Software engineering legend Kent Beck says coders need to learn people skills to survive AI

• Software engineers are asking themselves why they’re suddenly on the chopping block in the AI age.
• Famed engineer Kent Beck said it’s not just because AI can do some of their work.
• It’s because “we’re kind of assholes, sometimes,” he said.

Software engineers are among the most prized talent at any tech company, so why are they suddenly one of the most vulnerable species of the AI boom?

On a recent episode of “The Pragmatic Engineer,” famed software engineer Kent Beck gave a pretty blunt answer: “We’re kind of assholes, sometimes.”

Software engineers, no matter their level of technical expertise, tend to lack some of the softer skills that are prized in the workplace, he said.

“We don’t necessarily have good emotional regulation skills. We don’t have natural empathy,” he said. “We’re oftentimes more direct than other people can easily handle.” Those, at least, are some of the more “hideous” qualities of a typical software engineer, he said.

As AI changes everything, those softer skills can now make or break a technical career.

As AI writes more code, companies are asking engineers to review, direct, and manage AI-generated work rather than produce every line themselves. Vibecoding is now a commonplace practice in the software industry, enabling seasoned coders to build prototypes more quickly and non-coders to turn their ideas into pilots.

It is also blurring the line between engineering and product work. Anthropic’s head of growth, Amol Avasare, told Business Insider that engineers using tools like Claude Code are seeing their productivity increase by two to three times, putting new pressure on product managers and designers.

That all means companies are now often asking software engineers to take on more product management tasks, which require more interaction with human colleagues.

For smaller projects, he said, Anthropic is already asking engineers to act as “mini PMs,” taking responsibility not just for the code but also for stakeholder coordination and cross-functional work. The rise of that hybrid “product engineer” role suggests that the most valuable engineers may be the ones who can pair technical chops with product judgment and people skills.

Kent described the need for programmers to learn people skills as a “cosmic practical joke.”

He said when you get started coding, you are told that all you need to do is learn everything about this computer, and you’ll be fine. “And then oops sorry there’s this whole human side and your ability to affect change in the world is gated by your ability to communicate and empathize.”