The Future of Software Engineering

What is actually changing inside engineering teams?

In this episode of The Next Thing Now, Rob Borley is joined by Gordon Lucas, Group Software Engineering Director at PureGym, to explore how AI is really impacting software engineering.

Away from the hype and headlines, this is a grounded conversation about what is happening inside real teams today.

While AI tools promise dramatic productivity gains, most engineering organisations are still working through a much messier reality. Backlogs still exist. Delivery pressure has not changed. And the day-to-day experience of engineers is evolving in ways that are as human as they are technical.

We explore:

• Why AI has not yet transformed engineering teams in the way people expected
• The growing tension between code as craft and code as output
• How the role of the software engineer is shifting towards orchestration and higher-level thinking
• The leadership challenge of taking teams through rapid, uncertain change
• Whether teams will get smaller, or simply produce more
• What happens to junior engineers in an AI-driven world
• Why decision-making, not coding, is becoming the real bottleneck

This is is a conversation about people, pressure, and the future shape of the profession.

If you are a CIO, CTO, Head of Engineering, or product leader trying to make sense of AI in your organisation, this episode will help you think more clearly about what actually matters next.