The Software Engineer Debate Where Okta CEO Defends Demand Amid Layoffs

There's going to be more software engineers in the future than there are today. It's just the tools are going to be better.
Okta CEO Todd McKinnon is confident about one thing that the future will need more software engineers, not fewer. In a recent interview with Business Insider, McKinnon pushed back against the growing belief that generative AI will make engineering jobs obsolete. “People are like, ‘Oh, no, it's going to replace the software engineer.’ No, it's not,” he said. “There's going to be more software engineers in the future than there are today. It's just the tools are going to be better.” McKinnon likened today’s AI evolution to the advent of compilers in the 1970s—a foundational shift that simplified programming and drew more people into the field. “We used to write assembly language. Then the compiler came out. Then there were more software engineers, not fewer,” he sai
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Anshika Mathews
Anshika is the Senior Content Strategist for AIM Research. She holds a keen interest in technology and related policy-making and its impact on society. She can be reached at anshika.mathews@aimresearch.co
25 July 2025 | 583 Park Avenue, New York
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