Software engineering was supposed to be one of the first professions AI would disrupt — and yet here we are, with demand for engineers still climbing, job descriptions changing faster than ever, and hiring managers struggling to define what a “good developer” even looks like in 2026. AI hasn’t eliminated the role; it’s transformed it. The craft of writing code has shifted towards reviewing it, architecting systems, prompting agents and judging output. So what does that mean for how we hire software engineers? In this episode of Brainfood Live on Air — the first in a brand new series examining how AI is reshaping specific professions — Hung Lee and our panel of experts look at the world’s most scrutinised tech role and ask: how do you recruit for a job that’s mid-transformation?
Key Themes We’ll Cover:
A New Series, A New Lens – Why we’re going deep on individual professions, and what we’ll be covering across the series
The Real Impact So Far – What the data says about AI’s effect on engineering productivity, output quality and team structures
The Death of the LeetCode Interview? – Why traditional coding assessments may be measuring the wrong thing in an AI-assisted world
New Skills, New Signals – The emerging competencies hiring teams should screen for: system design, AI oversight, debugging judgment, taste
Junior Engineers: An Endangered Species? – What happens to entry-level hiring when AI handles the tasks juniors used to learn on
The Experience Paradox – Why senior engineers are more in demand than ever, and whether that’s sustainable
Assessing for What Matters Now – Practical changes engineering hiring teams are making to interviews, take-homes and technical rounds
Should Candidates Use AI in Interviews? – The great debate: testing for AI-assisted performance, or assessing raw coding skill?
What Engineering Teams Will Look Like in 2030 – Predictions on team size, composition and the engineer-to-AI-agent ratio
If you recruit for engineering roles — or any technical role facing similar disruption — this episode will help you cut through the noise and rethink your hiring strategy for the AI era. Expect data, debate and plenty of practical takeaways.
We’re on Friday 23rd October, 2pm BST.
Follow the channel here (recommended) and register for the show to get your questions answered live by the panel. See you on air!
Ep414 is supported by our friends at Greenhouse
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