In talking to engineering management across tech industry heavy-weights, it's apparent that software engineering is starting to split people into two nebulous groups: The first group will use A.I. to remove drudgery, move faster, and spend more time on the parts of the job that actually matter i.e. framing problems, making tradeoffs, spotting risks, creating clarity, and producing original insight. The second group will use A.I. to avoid thinking. They will paste prompts into a box, collect polished output, and present it as though it reflects their own reasoning. For a while, that can look like productivity. It can even look like talent. But it is a dead end. The software engineers who will be most valuable in the future are not the ones who do everything themselves. They are the ones who refuse to spend time on work that A.I. can do for them, while still understanding everything that is done on their behalf. They use the time savings to operate at a higher level.…