• Aparna Chennapragada champions coding’s relevance, highlighting AI’s role in enhancing accessibility.
• Future engineers may become software operators, requiring core computer science knowledge.
• Project managers must refine curatorial skills to manage AI-generated ideas effectively.

Some predict that coding will fade as artificial intelligence evolves, but Aparna Chennapragada, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer of Experiences and Devices, strongly disagrees. She spoke about computer science being written off as unnecessary, but she insisted that coding continues to matter. Microsoft, having laid off 6,000 employees, encourages engineers to leverage AI for greater productivity.

“Many folks think about, 'Oh, don’t bother studying computer science or coding is dead,' and I just fundamentally disagree,” said Chennapragada. “If anything, I think we’ve always had higher and higher layers of abstraction in programming.” Aparna Chennapragada explained that artificial intelligence fits with the usual improvement in software by assisting engineers with simplified coding. We don’t write code in assembly any longer. Few of us actually program in C,” she explained.

Also Read: TI partners with NVIDIA for advanced AI power distribution systems

According to Aparna Chennapragada, future engineers may become software operators instead of developers, but the underlying concepts in computer science are still needed. We could use the term ‘SO’ for programmers, but understanding computer science doesn’t go away. It’s a concept and a method of thinking. I strongly believe that the idea of coding being irrelevant is wrong.

She also added that project managers now have more responsibilities because Big Tech’s simplification has many middle managers. Since AI can produce new ideas and prototypes, curating exhibitions has to be done with even greater skill. “In some sense, if you look at it, there's going to be a massive increase in the supply of ideas and prototypes, which is great,” she said. Project managers must excel in “taste-making and editing” to navigate this surge, ensuring impactful outcomes in an AI-driven landscape.