- Author
- Addy Osmani (Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic, per the page)
- Published
- January 5, 2026
- Kind
- Personal blog post, a scenario essay with career advice
- Original
- addyosmani.com/blog/next-two-years/
- Subject
- Coding with agents
What it is
Addy Osmani wrote this essay on how AI coding agents may change software work. It covers hiring, skills, the developer role, specialization and education. It sets out to help readers prepare for several possible futures.
What it says
- Osmani poses five open questions for 2026, each with two contrasting scenarios.
- A cited Harvard study found junior jobs fell about 9-10%. The post also blames macro factors.
- Core skills could atrophy, or matter more as humans handle the hardest 20%.
- The developer role could shrink to auditing AI output or grow into orchestrating AI systems.
- The post favors T-shaped engineers, with one or two deep skills and broad range.
- It asks whether a CS degree stays the standard as bootcamps and employer training rise.
- Each section ends with separate advice for junior developers and senior developers.
What evidence it gives
The post cites a Harvard study, a Bureau of Labor Statistics projection and usage percentages. It also quotes engineers and a CEO. Several figures come without a citation in the text. The scenarios are the author's own framing.
Interests and limits
Osmani works at Anthropic on Claude Code, and the page promotes the author's O'Reilly book. The post calls its scenarios lenses, not predictions. Nothing was tested. Its advice rests on the cited figures and the author's judgment.