[julienchastang]

> Writing code isn't where I bring the most value. Understanding business problems, analyzing trade-offs, and making sure we're building the right things is where I can put all those years to good use. It might sound like an obvious thing, but it took me a while to get to this point.

Reaching this epiphany is a major milestone in the career of an SE even before the days of LLMs. That's basically the crux of it.

[happytoexplain]

The vast majority of developers are not in roles where decisions at that level are being made (except occasionally, on a smaller scope), so their ability in that context is irrelevant. You're describing project leads and department leads.

[XenophileJKO]

Every engineer has this opportunity, whether they use it or not is usually the issue. Almost every decision that you make can make the current and future success of the business more or less likely.

I've said before: "There are no 'staff' projects, only 'staff' execution."

[aurareturn]

Based on my 20 years of experience, the vast majority of developers do not possess those skills.

I'd guess that only 10% of them actually do. In order to have those skills, you need good user sense, good business sense, good negotiation skills, good communication skills. These skills align more with the product manager to be frank.

Of course, the best people are still going to be those who have the technical chops and business sense. They'll be amplified more in this era.