GoKawiilLLMs are eroding my software engineering career and I don't know what to do
06 Jun, 2026
I'm a software engineer, completing 10 years of professional experience this year. I started my career as a web frontend engineer (it was easier for me to debug frontend code back then, so I chose that path), but shortly transitioned to (web) backend and never looked back.
Through a series of coincidences, once I stepped into backend development, I ended up working in software development roles in the domains of finance, bookkeeping and payment processing, where I had great autonomy and a close and candid relationship with Product Managers and stakeholders.
I learnt a lot about the domain and how to effectively write programs for it: PCI compliance, double-entry ledgers, escrows, reconciliation, payment lifecycles, bank transfer idempotency, etc.
It was, then, obvious that I should focus my career on becoming an expert on that domain to stand out as a professional and differentiate myself in a field that showed signs of an increasing need for domain specialists.
The first pillar to erode: domain-specific knowledge
Last year, I got hired by a company in the finance workspace. So far, I had worked on companies that do have a strong payment and finance component to their operations/offerings, but that were not solely finance-focused companies.
That company also embraced AI wholeheartedly, so I got ChatGPT and Claude Enterprise accounts from day one and was encouraged to use them for my research, exploration, and even coding, albeit with a warning that I should still review and own every single line that made it into production.
One of my first projects involved reworking the legacy online payment system, which was a mess. They hired me for (among other things) my previous experience in building that and trusted me with the task.
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