AI Develops Code: Who’s Developing Developers?

Chegg Skills’ Colin Coggins asks the question about how if AI develops code, then who’s developing developers? This article originally appeared in Insight Jam, an enterprise IT community that enables human conversation on AI.

Software development has become one of the clearest examples of how AI is reshaping work. In just a few years, AI-powered coding tools have gone from novelty to necessity, changing not only how developers build software, but what great engineering looks like.

Research from Stack Overflow shows that the vast majority of developers now incorporate AI-generated code into their workflows. As a result, the role of the software engineer is shifting. Developers are spending less time writing every line of code and more time evaluating AI outputs, integrating systems, solving complex problems, and exercising judgment.

That shift creates an enormous opportunity, but it also raises the bar. According to research from BairesDev, 56% of developers believe the ability to evaluate and validate AI-generated code will be a foundational skill by 2026. Yet 67% say their teams don’t currently have the knowledge to do it effectively.

Today’s engineers need far more than technical proficiency. They need critical thinking, communication, leadership, and sound judgment in environments that AI is changing faster than most training programs can keep pace. For organizations, success isn’t about delivering more learning. It’s about building capability that translates into better performance and greater career mobility.

The Real Cost of Skills Gaps

The consequences are becoming impossible to ignore. Our recently released Frontline Workers Skills Index examined skills and workforce development across 10 frontline-heavy industries and found that the IT and software sector is feeling the strain more than most.

Seventy-eight percent of IT and software employers describe the skills gap as moderate, serious, or at crisis levels, compared with 73 percent across all industries. More than one-third (38 percent) spend over eight hours every week compensating for missing skills, well above the cross-industry average of 30 percent.

The human impact is equally concerning. Nearly half of employers (46 percent) and one-third of employees (33 percent) in IT and software say they’ve considered leaving their jobs because of the stress created by understaffing and persistent skills shortages.

Despite significant investment in learning and development, the gap continues to widen. The question isn’t whether organizations are investing in training. It’s whether that training is producing meaningful capability.

Employers and Employees Aren’t Solving the Same Problem

One of the most revealing findings from our research is that employers and employees often define success differently. Across industries, employers identify AI and automation skills (36 percent) and digital and IT skills (24 percent) as their biggest capability gaps. Employees, meanwhile, prioritize leadership and people management (25 percent), followed by communication and teamwork (24 percent).

Neither side is wrong.

Employers are focused on building the capabilities their business needs today. Employees are investing in the skills that will help them grow throughout their careers. The strongest workforce strategies recognize that both perspectives matter.

Unfortunately, many employees don’t believe today’s training is delivering those outcomes. In IT and software, 67% say training has resulted in no change to their pay or role, while only 6% say it led to a promotion.

That disconnect helps explain why 88% of employers in the sector believe their training has been effective, the highest of any industry surveyed, while only 50% of employees agree, tied for the lowest.

When learning stops creating opportunity, employees stop seeing it as an investment in their future. Once that trust is lost, engagement follows.

Building Capability, not Just Completion

Closing today’s skills gap requires more than courses and certificates. People need opportunities to apply new skills in real-world situations, receive meaningful feedback, and demonstrate competence where it matters. A certificate doesn’t tell you whether a developer can confidently review AI-generated code before it reaches production. Practice does.

Effective workforce development must prepare employees for the work organizations need today while creating visible pathways toward the careers employees want tomorrow. The goal isn’t simply to teach new technology. It’s to increase employability, improve performance, and expand career opportunity.

That means helping developers build the technical fluency required to evaluate and validate AI-generated code while also strengthening the durable human skills AI can’t replace: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, leadership, and judgment under pressure.

Organizations that get this right won’t simply have better-trained employees. They’ll build more adaptable teams, stronger businesses, and workforces that are ready for what’s next.

Those that don’t won’t fall behind slowly. They’ll fall behind decisively. As AI continues to reshape the economy, competitive advantage will belong to organizations that develop people as quickly as technology evolves.