# 2026 has been the most pivotal year in my career... and it's only March

DevFeed: [2026 has been the most pivotal year in my career... and it's only March](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/2026-has-been-the-most-pivotal-year-in-my-career-and-it-s-only-march-20511.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://nullprogram.com/blog/2026/03/29/>)

Published: 2026-03-29T21:38:22Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Chris Wellons](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/chris-wellons.md>)

Topics: [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>), [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [Automation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/automation.md>), [C++](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/c-plus-plus.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>)

Tags: [2026](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/2026.md>), [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [automation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/automation.md>), [c](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/c.md>), [c-plus-plus](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/c-plus-plus.md>), [cpp](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cpp.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineering.md>), [tools](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tools.md>)

## AI overview

The author reflects on leaving a long-term employer and adapting to AI-assisted software engineering. They describe no longer writing code directly in their professional role, instead coordinating AI helpers while continuing to read, understand, and evaluate code. AI assistance enabled substantial contributions to a large C++ codebase during onboarding, while shifting bottlenecks away from code production. The article also argues that frontier AI products are advancing faster than self-hosted or free models.

## Source excerpt

In February I left my employer after nearly two decades of service. In the moment I was optimistic, yet unsure I made the right choice. Dust settled, I'm now absolutely sure I chose correctly. I'm happier and better for it. There were multiple factors, but it's not mere chance it coincides with these early months of the automation of software engineering. I left an employer that is years behind adopting AI to one actively supporting and encouraging it. As of March, in my professional capacity I no longer write code myself. My current situation was unimaginable to me only a year ago. Like it or not, this is the future of software engineering. Turns out I like it, and having tasted the future I don't want to go back to the old ways. In case you're worried, this is still me. These are my own words. Writing is thinking, and it would defeat the purpose for an AI to write in my place on my personal blog. That's not going to change. I still spend much time reading and understanding code, and using most of the same development tools. It's more like being a manager, orchestrating a nebulous team of inhumanly-fast, nameless assistants. Instead of dicing the vegetables, I conjure a helper to do it while I continue to run the kitchen. I haven't managed people in some 20 years now, but I can feel those old muscles being put to use again as I improve at this new role. Will these kitchens still need human chefs like me by the end of the decade? Unclear, and it's something we all need to prepare for. My situation gave me an experience onboarding with AI assistance -- a fast process given a near-instant, infinitely-patient helper answering any question about the code. By second week I was making substantial, wide contributions to the large C++ code base. It's difficult to attach a quantifiable factor like 2x, 5x, 10x, etc. faster, but I can say for certain this wouldn't have been possible without AI. The bottlenecks have shifted from producing code, which now takes relatively no time