A year ago, I wouldn't have believed I'd ever write this sentence.
I've been developing software for over 20 years. As a teenager I digitized municipal offices, later founded companies, and with 1Tool built software that today supports thousands of users in their daily work. Software development was never just my profession – it was my passion.
And yet, for over six months, I haven't written a single line of code myself.
Not because I can no longer program.
But because I no longer have to.
The biggest change of my career
I was never someone who jumps on every hype. Over the last 20 years there have been countless technologies announced as revolutions that vanished again a few years later.
With AI, it's different.
For the first time, I'm experiencing a technology that doesn't just change my everyday work, but completely redefines it.
Today, AI agents handle most of software development. They write code, analyze existing systems, carry out reviews, test applications in the browser, and document changes.
Five years ago, I would have said: impossible.
Today, it's part of my everyday life.
Programming was never the real goal
For a long time, I thought I loved programming.
Today I know that was only half the truth.
I love solving problems. I love turning ideas into reality. I love that moment when a thought suddenly becomes a working product.
I used to have to write hundreds or thousands of lines of code for that.
Today, I formulate the context, define the architecture, and work together with AI agents on the implementation.
The result is the same. Just incredibly much faster.
Context is the new programming language
The most important skill today is no longer mastering every programming language perfectly.
The most important skill is delivering the right context.
AI can program in seconds. But it needs to understand why something is being built, who it's for, and what problem it's actually meant to solve.
That's exactly where the biggest difference between human and machine still lies right now.
For now.
What does this mean for software developers?
I don't think developers will disappear. But their role is changing radically.
We write less code. We make more decisions. We think more about products than about syntax. We spend more time on architecture, processes, and user experience than on the actual implementation.
The developer is increasingly becoming the conductor of an orchestra of AI agents.
My most honest realization
AI has taken from me what I did most for years: writing code.
But at the same time, it has given me what I always actually wanted: more time for ideas, more time for products, more time for innovation.
Today, things come to life in hours that used to take us days or weeks.
For the first time in my career, software development really feels as fast as we always imagined it would with "Agile."
And that's exactly why I enjoy my job more today than ever before.