USA 
United Kingdom
Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), has advised his software engineers to upskill and learn new technologies, warning that AI could replace their coding work.
Speaking to staff in June during a company “fireside chat,” Garman suggested to developers that AI could be doing the coding of developers in as little as two years.
Amazon’s software engineers could soon be forced to find responsibilities other than coding due to the rise of artificial intelligence, according to the company’s cloud computing chief.
“If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can’t exactly predict where it is — it’s possible that most developers are not coding,” Garman said, according to leaked audio shared by Business Insider.
What does the AWS CEO’s prediction mean for developers?
In the audio, Garman explained that the change did not mean developers would lose their roles. Instead, it would mean a shift in skillset to what he argues is more valuable work to the business.
"Coding is just kind of like the language that we talk to computers. It's not necessarily the skill in and of itself," he explained. "The skill in and of itself is like, how do I innovate? How do I go build something that's interesting for my end users to use?”
"It just means that each of us has to get more in tune with what our customers need and what the actual end thing is that we're going to try to go build, because that's going to be more and more of what the work is as opposed to sitting down and actually writing code,” the executive continued.
Garman suggested that freedom from coding will allow AWS’ developers to “continue to upskill and learn about new technologies,” noting that Amazon will be helping its software engineers with the transition.
He also hinted that the changes aren’t Amazon-specific and reflect an industry-wide trend. “Being a developer in 2025 may be different than what it was as a developer in 2020," he added.
Replacement or reskilling: AI shifts affect jobs across tech
A spokesperson for AWS has further clarified that Garman’s words were not an indication that roles would be reduced or replaced, and instead showed how AI could help the company’s software engineers to “accomplish more than they do today.”
“Matt articulated a vision for how AWS will continue to remove undifferentiated heavy lifting from the developer experience so that builders can focus more of their skill and energy on the most innovative work,” the spokesperson said.
But some Amazon employees might not be completely reassured. In April, Amazon cut several hundred jobs in its AWS division across its sales, marketing, global services, and physical store technology teams.
Moreover, while many companies have hailed gains in productivity and innovation through AI adoption, many workers are concerned by the recent trend of layoffs executed with references to AI automation or a shift to AI-centric work.
Cisco CFO Scott Herren, for example, said in a recent statement confirming the company would trim 7% of its workforce: “As we look to build on our performance, we remain laser focused on growth and consistent execution as we invest to win in AI, cloud and cybersecurity, while maintaining capital returns.”
Dell executives also recently informed staff in a memo that the company would be making 12,500 layoffs as it reorganized to create an “AI select sales team” and capitalize on the fast-moving “world of AI.”
Many workers fear losing their jobs to AI and industry experts have also been bullish about the potential impact of AI on the workforce. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI and co-founder of Deepmind, said in May 2023 that the technology could result in a “serious number of losers” in the job market.
“Unquestionably, many of the tasks in white-collar land will look very different in the next five to 10 years,” Suleyman said.
Similarly, the CEO and founder of Stability AI predicted in 2023 that there may be “no programmers in five years” as a result of AI technology.
According to a 2023 EY study, 75% of employees said they were concerned AI would make certain jobs obsolete and 65% said they were anxious about AI replacing their jobs.
