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2 hours ago
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Even though AI takes up two thirds of my first name, this post was written without it
It’s November 2025 today, at the time I’m writing this. Software engineering has entirely changed over the last 3 years. But even the word entirely can’t describe how dramatic the change has been.
Pre-AI era, the full-stack web developer used to be a common myth. A founders‘ and investors‘ dream. In every startup, all founders wanted was to hire that 10x full-stack can-do-it-all developer, who would take over frontend, backend, dev-ops and everything in between, while asking for an ordinary developer salary. In practice, full-stack developer became a bit of a meme, and ultimately, an adverse selection pattern. Those who marketed themselves as full-stack developers, were almost surely insufficiently qualified in both frontend and backend.
Up until the last year or so, it was one of my firmly held beliefs that, except for some incredibly rare cases, you should never hire a full-stack developer. Rather, hiring at least one developer for frontend and one developer for backend, led to clearly separated responsibilities, efficient work, with good enough quality in all of the necessary details. In this case, 1 + 1 was truely 2, whereas a single, full-stack developer was more like an undercover 0.3 frontend + 0.3 backend and you ended up with a total 0.6 output in code quality and dev speed. Worse even, if dev speed seemed fine from the outside, but at the secret expense of code quality, it made a re-write due in 3-6 months.
But in the last half year, the rise of agent-supported coding makes me think, for the first time, that it might finally be possible to have true full-stack developers.
Freed up by AI, to be productive, it suddenly doesn’t take an expert with years of experience in a particular field, to understand enough of the field’s details and quirks. It still takes years of experience in the overall practice, but now, that experience translates a lot better into other areas. The path is open to becoming a doctor of all disciplines.
What it takes in particular, is a curious, scientific mindset, a willingness to be the right character at the right time, wearing the hats of a surgeon, Doc Brown, or Sherlock Holmes, together with the courage and the discipline to let go of the tempting fun of the grind, aka the text editing. That might not sound like much from the outside, but to be clear, it means a massive change in mindset and a large change in behavior for every developer with more than 3 years of experience.
And there’s more: slowly but steadily, the period of increasing capabilities is followed by a period of increasing expectations. Many software engineers, me included, baffled and joyful at first, unable to even grasp all the new possibilities, turn to mixed feelings. As a developer, the stirred-up, now settling dust, suddenly reveals your place in the hierarchy. When we’re being honest: if you’re not yet part of the ownership class, current dynamics aren’t in your favor. You’re at the forefront of AI? You know all the latest tools? You can finally take over full-stack and even more? You’re faster than ever? Well. You better be! It’s just become the new standard.
One could argue that a similar stress, of course, is on companies as well. Competition is quicker with AI, too. It’s like everyone’s on a collective treadmill that AI keeps accelerating. Or rather, I like to imagine AI as a wave that washes through everything from the bottom up, hitting agencies and contractors, then employees, smaller, then larger companies, and eventually, bigger players in traditional industries. Yet short term, at least, as an AI-ready company you might capitalize on your AI-powered products. As an AI-capable developer, you almost surely won’t get a raise.
Waking up from that realization, the fog clears. The full-stack developer has become a reality. Now, I can hear a new chant picking up some volume: Forward-deployed engineers! FDEs. While the role is actually nuanced and useful, reinterpretation seems to be mounting. It goes like: have you heard? FDEs can talk to customers! They can act quickly, without designers, product managers, or anyone else! But of course they’re great software developers as well. Moving quickly? Sure! You hire them, and they just build! They’re the 10x product developer can-do-it-all you always wanted to hire. Isn’t it tempting?
Does it ring a bell?
If you look at it that way, I’m inclined to believe that maybe, nothing has changed at all, in the last 3 years. Frontiers have moved, but what else has? Employers and employees still largely have opposing incentives. It still takes a very human approach by very capable leaders to create the right balance for all sides, making this a win-win for everyone. It’s still the adventure it’s always been. And I’m still watching as a curious spectator, trying to do my part and to enjoy the way.
But regardless of whether anything has really changed, one thing is clear: There’s plenty of instability, awaiting some new order. Peak ambiguity. The right work mode has become undefined, for both individuals and for teams overall. The right team structure is undefined. The next org structure is undefined. The direction products and business models will take isn’t defined either. Everything seems to be up for grabs, and instability means opportunity. With all actors being more opportunistic, everyone needs to protect themselves from exploitation, too. And they do. That’s why employers are busy removing home-office policies, encouraging 9-9-6, and inventing ways to broaden employees‘ responsibilities. Hence, the title of this post. Similarly, it’s why employees are busy demanding more freedoms, asking themselves: „what for?“, placing guards around their mental and physical health, until they quit their jobs and repeat.
Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way. Participation models are readily available. Leadership is key. Trust is paramount. If you’re lucky to have a trustful work relationship, or a trusted business relationship, you might want to double down.
On the one hand, if you tend to speed up, slow down. Strive for right effort amidst the hustle. Calm down in the storm. To remind everyone that rushing and pushing is short-term thinking. But so is dwelling in comfort.
On the other hand, if bias towards action doesn’t come naturally to you, maybe now is also a good time to remember: who ever you are and who ever you define as them, chaos is a ladder not just for them, but for yourself as well.
Seems like I got derailed a bit with this post.
All I can conclude at this point, is that there’s a lot to do. We’re well advised to take „survival of the most adaptable“ quite literally, and to adapt radically. To lean in to all the new AI tools and dynamics. To think mid and long term. To re-evaluate long held beliefs. To finally ship the side project. To finally dare start a business. Or at least to re-negotiate compensation. To show up with MBA-confidence as a PhD. To move forward quickly, but to hold course firmly, as a founder. To lead. To discuss new virtues. To keep setting boundaries.
To do anything to briefly counter-act the exploitive tendencies, that those wild times reveal so well. To resist the small wave, but to be ready.
When the big wave comes, we’ll all find ourselves swimming.
