AI has been changing the way companies work, but for many employees, the impact is now deeply personal.
A software engineer with more than eight years of experience recently saw his role quietly “restructured” as his company reduced team size and relied more on AI tools.
What followed was not an online rant, but a year-long effort to adapt.
The experience came to light after a Bengaluru woman, Srishti, shared her cousin’s journey on X (formerly Twitter).
“My cousin had 8+ years of experience. Solid engineer. Backend, systems, the whole deal,” the caption of the post reads.
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Re-skilling for survival:
In her post, she said her cousin was a skilled backend and systems engineer with years of hands-on experience.
His role was restructured when smaller teams and AI tools began doing the same work faster.
"Everyone around him said the same thing: Vibe coding won’t replace real software engineers. AI is just a helper,” she adds.
{{/usCountry}}"Everyone around him said the same thing: Vibe coding won’t replace real software engineers. AI is just a helper,” she adds.
{{/usCountry}}She said this belief proved to be only half true. Instead of ranting online, her cousin chose to spend a year learning AI seriously.
He did not focus on writing simple prompts or reading online trends. Instead, he studied large language models, embeddings, AI agents, system limits, and how to build real products using these tools.
“One year later? New job. Different title. Same engineering fundamentals. 100% hike. AI didn’t replace him. Engineers who refused to learn AI did,” she adds.
HT.com has reached out to the user for more details. This report will be updated when she responds.
Check out the post here:
Here's how people reacted to the post:
The post sparked wide discussion, with many users saying it reflected what they were seeing in their own workplaces. Some agreed that AI is no longer just a helper and is already changing team structures.
One of the users commented, “This is real steel that one needs to swim through these turbulent waters.”
A second user commented, “This is the future, and it's here to stay whether we like it or not.”
A third user commented, “Learning AI isn’t optional anymore, it’s the new baseline for staying relevant in tech.”
“Absolutely, adapting is key. Most of my work now uses AI, and even older projects are powered by Vibe Code,” another user commented.