What people get wrong about working in tech, according to tech workers

• Business Insider asked six tech workers about the biggest misconceptions in the industry.
• Workers challenged assumptions about AI, Big Tech, and what their jobs actually involve.
• Some said AI has changed the nature of tech work — but not in the ways many people think.

If you ask tech workers what people misunderstand about working in their industry, they’ll tell you — plenty.

In interviews with Business Insider, tech professionals from companies including Amazon, Google, and Snap challenged assumptions that their jobs are mostly coding, that AI has made their work easier, and that Big Tech is the only worthwhile career path. Some focused on misconceptions held by people outside the industry, while others pointed to misunderstandings from people already working in tech.

These professionals — including engineers, data scientists, and product managers — are working in an industry that’s changing rapidly. They say many people’s understanding of tech jobs hasn’t kept up.

Here’s what six tech workers believe are the biggest misconceptions about working in tech. (Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

My job is about much more than coding

Priyanka Devi Ramesh is a business intelligence engineer at Amazon. She’s 30 and lives in Virginia.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that working in tech is all about coding. People assume if you work in tech, you sit in front of a screen writing code all day. But my role as a business intelligence engineer is deeply rooted in understanding the business, talking to stakeholders, cleaning messy data, and telling stories through dashboards.

A huge part of my job is communication — translating complex data into something a non-technical customer or vendor can act on. Tech is far more cross-functional and people-oriented than most outsiders realize.

The perks are real. So is the pressure.

Sreeja Apparaju is a machine learning engineer at Snap. She’s in her 20s and lives in New York.

One misconception is that tech jobs are all hoodies, ping pong tables, and a four-hour workday. The perks are real, but they exist alongside the genuine intensity of on-call rotations, launch crunches, performance reviews, and the constant pressure to keep learning as the stack evolves under you.

There’s also the assumption that the work is purely solitary and screen-bound. The technical problems are only half of it; the other half is people: understanding what users actually need, negotiating priorities with partners, and communicating clearly enough that the right decisions get made even when you’re not in the room.

AI can’t do your thinking for you

Udit Mehrotra is a head of product at Amazon. He’s in his 30s and lives in Seattle.

The biggest misconception I come across right now is that you can outsource your thinking to AI. A lot of people have discovered that AI tools are genuinely impressive at producing output quickly, and the temptation is to let the tools drive.

The problem is that the quality of what comes out is almost entirely determined by the quality of thinking you put in. Garbage in, garbage out, except now it’s faster and looks more polished.

The bar keeps getting higher

Mike Kostersitz is a senior director, product management at Nike. He’s 60 and lives in Oregon.

A common misconception is that tech workers are coasting — making a lot of money for very little work because AI does the rest. That gets it backwards. AI doesn’t hand you free time; it removes the repetitive work that used to crowd out the important work.

The job hasn’t gotten easier — the bar has gotten higher. We’re expected to think more clearly, decide faster, and lead through more change in a quarter than we used to in a year.

Tech is much bigger than software engineering

Prerit Pathak is a security engineer at Google. He’s in his 20s and lives in New York City.

I think many people mistakenly believe that being a “tech employee” is synonymous with being a software engineer. The reality is that technology is a vast ecosystem of roles like Product Management, UI/UX Design, Data Science, and Cybersecurity.

These specialists act as the architects, maintainers, and protectors of the digital world, ensuring that technical tools solve important problems for our future generations.

Big Tech isn’t the only path

Iren Azra Zou is a software engineer at the trucking logistics startup Double Nickel. She’s in her 20s and lives in New Jersey.

I think some people in tech over-focus on working at the most famous tech companies. Those can be great, but they’re not the only path, and often not the best fit for everyone.

There are countless small and mid-sized companies doing interesting, meaningful work. I see a lot of people limit themselves because they think it’s either “Big Tech” or something boring and non-technical. That’s just not how the industry actually looks.

Do you have a story to share about how you’re navigating a career crossroads? If so, please reach out to the reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com, or via Signal at jzinkula.29.