Jay Kreps outlines post-AI engineering as splitting into two primary tracks: management and technical. The management track involves guiding developers who may be brilliant but easily distracted, while AI helps managers maintain programming competence alongside their coordination responsibilities. This bifurcation suggests that the middle ground — senior individual contributors who don't manage but don't go deep technical — may compress. AI fills the intermediate skill layer, pushing careers toward either deep technical mastery or people/system management. The implication for career strategy is to commit fully to one track rather than occupying the shrinking middle. ## Source - [[Post-ai engineering tracks -]] ## Related - [[Code Writing Was Never the Bottleneck]] - [[Four Workforce Archetypes in AI Transition]] - [[Before You Turn 40, Get a Plan B]] — Pre-AI view on management vs specialist bifurcation for engineering longevity #atomic-note #software-engineering