The debate over whether AI will displace software engineers has a new data point and it goes against the pessimists. Amazon plans to bring on 11,000 software development interns in 2026, and AWS CEO Matt Garman says the demand for developers inside the company isn’t steady. is increasing.
“I can tell you that we’re hiring as many software developers as we’ve ever had inside Amazon,” Garman told attendees of Amazon’s What’s Next with AWS event on Tuesday. “And in fact, I see the demand for it really accelerating.”
Amazon spokesperson said business insider That number of 11,000 apprentices matches previous years and includes not only apprentices but also early-career engineers who have already graduated into the full-time workforce.
These statements come as some of the loudest voices in the field of artificial intelligence are arguing the exact opposite. As reported business insiderIn February, Anthropic’s cloud code creator Boris Cherny predicted that the job title “software engineer” would go away in the long run.
Furthermore, Andreessen Horowitz partner Martín Casado once called the field “disrupted as a discipline”. Garman, on the other hand, was more outspoken about calling it bullshit since August.
Garman did not argue that software engineering is untouched by AI. He said that the work is shifting. “Being an expert in being able to write Java code snippets will be less valuable in the future than it was a few years ago,” he said.
Garman doesn’t deny the impact of AI on the profession; He says the effect is a shift in demand for specialized skills rather than a shrinking workforce.
Against the backdrop of Amazon’s 11,000 apprentices and new hires, we see a more complex reality. Amazon has made layoffs this year affecting about 16,000 corporate employees, with the company saying it was not primarily due to AI.
The internship program is described by Amazon as “an important pathway to discovering the next generation of leaders and builders,” indicating the company’s belief that software development engineers who have recently graduated from college are an asset worth investing in.
