Стас Юрасов That's Life 15 May 2026, 13:54

“In two years we will forget about writing code.” Taras Kytsmey (SoftServe) and Vitaliy Sedler (Intellias) on how AI will reshape the IT market

The Ukrainian IT industry is on the verge of a transformation it has not seen in its 30 years of existence. Artificial intelligence is already taking over coding and testing, and the value of a developer is shifting from writing lines of code to the ability to create specifications and understand the client’s business.

Taras Kytsmey (SoftServe) and Vitaliy Sedler (Intellias) talked about what awaits IT professionals and companies in the next two years during a panel discussion at DOU.Day.

The Evolution of the Programmer: From Assembler to Prompts

Taras Kytsmey, co-founder of SoftServe, compares the advent of artificial intelligence to historical technical revolutions in IT. He recalled his own experience when he started his career writing code in assembler for the IBM 360, and then switched to Fortran, entrusting the translation of machine code to a compiler.

«Now we don’t have to write in C++ or Smalltalk. We can just write a specification in ordinary human language, and there will be a compiler built by artificial intelligence that will convert it into machine code,» Kitsmey notes.

According to him, programmers will have to come to terms with a new reality: “ People have to start forgetting high-level languages and moving into specification development .»

But that doesn’t mean the job will be easier. AI is prone to «hallucinations» if it receives vague instructions. Therefore, the developer of the future must become partly a domain expert and product manager, able to give the algorithms the right ideas and goals.

Those who ignore these changes risk being left on the margins. Kitsmey compares the future of traditional hand-crafted programming to the assembly of Harley-Davidson motorcycles: «Craft programming will remain. It will be assembled by hand because it’s cool. But there will be very little of it left.»

The end of the era of «just good engineers»

Intellias CEO Vitaly Sedler adds that the value of working in IT is radically changing its geography. If earlier money was earned «close to the coding process», now value is created «close to the customer» .

«Ukrainian companies have often positioned themselves as good engineers who can come to any industry and take on any project. Now this is not enough. An important advantage is domain expertise, which is still not at a very high level in many Ukrainian companies,» emphasizes Sadler.

Those who deeply understand a specific business (finance, retail, automotive) and can advise the client on a solution before they even formulate the problem themselves will win.

Will there be mass layoffs?

Although AI will allow smaller teams to create more products faster and cheaper, market leaders do not expect a collapse in the labor market or catastrophic layoffs.

Vitaliy Sedler reassures: Ukrainian IT companies are adapting to AI much faster than their Western clients. Many customers still work according to the old model and simply buy «access to talent» because they have not yet learned how to integrate ready-made AI solutions themselves.

Taras Kytsmey is also optimistic and believes in increasing teams. He draws a historical parallel with Ford’s assembly line: when cars began to be assembled automatically, they fell dramatically in price, but Henry Ford’s profits only increased due to the insane volume of sales.

«We need to restructure, be stronger, and earn more. If development becomes cheaper and better thanks to AI agents, the world will simply start developing many more programs,» concludes the SoftServe co-founder.

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