AI changes what developers get paid for

AI does not replace coders. It changes what they get paid for. The software industry is the first sector where this distinction is already visible in euros and redundancies.

I sit at my computer reviewing code that AI wrote in two minutes. The same work would have taken me weeks before. I no longer write code — I define, evaluate, decide and answer the questions AI asks me.

Why is the price of code production collapsing?

According to Professor Pekka Abrahamsson of Tampere University, AI now does in two minutes what used to take a software developer two weeks. That means the cost of producing code has collapsed. The industry has already reacted: Etteplan and Vincit have announced layoffs that the companies themselves attributed to structural changes caused by AI. Nordea announced it would lay off approximately 1,500 employees by the end of 2026 — AI and process optimisation were cited as the reasons. Software development is the first industry where this change shows up in euros and redundancies. It will not be the last.

What will developers get paid for going forward?

I have gone through the change myself. Through doubt, resistance, and ultimately acceptance. One of the authors of the Agile Manifesto, Kent Beck, puts it this way: the vast majority of skills where humans had an advantage are now worthless. What cannot be delegated has turned out to be more valuable than ever: the ability to make decisions, recognise context, and bear responsibility. Writing code no longer distinguishes a senior from a junior — AI does it faster than even an experienced developer, and to sufficient quality. From a business perspective, this means developers are paid more than before — but on a different basis. Are we steering this transition, or reacting to its consequences after the fact?

What happens to the junior developer pipeline?

Technology optimists argue that overall software demand will grow as production becomes cheaper — and I agree. When AI reshapes the nature of work, the open questions are who captures the benefits and who learns most from them. As routine production is automated, many developers lose what they used to get paid for. The most demanding skills — decision-making, accountability, and systems thinking — grow in value. The problem is not that there is no demand for skilled developers. The problem is that the industry has been built on the premise that you code first and manage the big picture later. If the junior pathway narrows, where will the next decade’s senior developers come from?

What does Finland need now?

The same upheaval does not only affect code. Every industry with repetitive knowledge work faces the same structural change. Finland has individual responses from individual sectors, but almost no coordinated initiatives — not on how to reskill the workforce, nor on how to apply safety nets to the new situation. Digital independence and skills policy belong to the same whole — and neither is advancing in a coordinated way. Technological disruption will not wait until we are ready, and none of our competitors will wait on our behalf.

When will Finnish companies and decision-makers agree on what developers get paid for — and who is responsible for ensuring the next generation grows?