In 2025, 41% of all code written globally was AI-generated or AI-assisted. 82% of developers use AI tools every single week.
If your entire value as an engineer is writing code, the clock is ticking.
Here’s the shape that survives: I-shaped → T-shaped → comb-shaped.
The I-shaped engineer, deep in one lane and invisible everywhere else, is at serious risk. Not because they’re bad engineers. Because narrow specialization is exactly what AI does best.
T-shaped is the new baseline
One vertical bar: deep expertise in one or a few domains. You’re the go-to person. You make architectural calls no tool can make reliably. You ask “why” before writing a single line of code. You catch AI hallucinations.
One horizontal bar: broad awareness across the system. You don’t need to master it all. You need to understand how frontend, backend, infra, data and security connect, well enough to use AI confidently across all of them.
Comb-shaped is where people thrive
T-shaped is just the floor.
The engineers who truly thrive are comb-shaped: multiple areas of deep expertise, not just one. Product thinking. Design intuition. Business acumen. Communication. The ability to connect what users need with what technology can deliver.
AI doesn’t replace engineers. It replaces engineers who only know how to code.
Addy Osmani from Google covers the T-shaped model really well in his “How to become a T-shaped software engineer” video on YouTube. It’s worth 10 minutes if you’re serious about leveling up.
Originally posted on LinkedIn
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