Every few years, something comes along that's supposed to end software engineering as we know it. IDE features that write code for you. Low-code. No-code. Now AI. And every time, the role adapts, the fundamentals stay, and the people who understand the craft come out ahead.
Still, the anxiety this time around is real. The headlines say software engineering is dead. Your group chat says juniors are cooked. Your CEO just asked why the team isn't shipping 10x faster. Take a breath, because nobody knows where we are heading, but it's worth talking about honestly.
Here's something you've probably noticed. AI is amazing at the things you don't know. Ask it about a language you've never touched or a framework you're just picking up, and it looks like magic. Then you ask it about the code you've lived in for five years, and suddenly you're catching mistakes on every other line. That's not a bug in the tool. That's the fundamentals talking. AI tools are genuinely powerful, and they reward the developers who already understand what good software looks like. Naming things well, knowing when to refactor, reading code critically, designing systems that hold up. These fundamentals matter more now, not less, because they're what let you tell when the output is wrong.
Whether you write code, ship it, or plan the work around it, Dan Vega and Nate Schutta will cut through the noise around AI coding tools: where they help, where they hurt, and why the fundamentals are your biggest advantage right now. You'll leave knowing what to invest in, what to keep learning, and why the craft still matters.
Speaker
Nate Schutta
Software Architect @Thoughtworks, Java Champion, author of "Thinking Architecturally" and "Responsible Microservices"
Nathaniel T. Schutta is a software architect and Java Champion focused on cloud computing, developer happiness and building usable applications. A proponent of polyglot programming, Nate has written multiple books, appeared in countless videos and many podcasts. He’s also a seasoned speaker who regularly presents at worldwide conferences, No Fluff Just Stuff symposia, meetups, universities, and user groups. In addition to his day job, Nate is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches students to embrace (and evaluate) technical change. Driven to rid the world of bad presentations, he coauthored the book Presentation Patterns with Neal Ford and Matthew McCullough, and he also published Thinking Architecturally and Responsible Microservices available from O’Reilly. His latest book, Fundamentals of Software Engineering, is currently available in early release.
Speaker
Dan Vega
Java Champion & Spring Developer Advocate @Broadcom
Dan Vega is a Java Champion & Spring Developer Advocate at Broadcom. He has been developing software for the web for over 23 years and his superpower is problem-solving. Dan is a Blogger, YouTuber,Course Creator, Podcaster, and speaker. He is a lifelong learner and his passion is sharing his knowledge with the developer community.
Dan lives near Cleveland Ohio with his beautiful wife and 2 daughters. When he isn’t writing code or teaching he enjoys spending time with his family, lifting weights, running, or reading a good book.
