The Skills Developers Actually Need in the New AI Era

If AI can already write pretty good code, why should a 10 or 12-year-old spend years learning how to code?That's one of the questions we explored with David Dodge from CodaKid.David is looking at this from the education side, preparing kids and teens for a world where AI will be part of almost everything they build. We're seeing the other side every day through software teams, hiring, apprenticeships, and actual AI development.And we're arriving at a very similar conclusion.Syntax matters less.Problem solving, software fundamentals, understanding systems, using AI effectively, and recognizing when AI gets something wrong matter more.The same thing applies when those students eventually enter the workforce.A degree is one signal. But if someone can show us five real products they've built and shipped, that's an incredibly powerful signal that they can actually solve problems and execute.AI isn't removing the need to learn.It's changing what people need to learn.