GitHub CEO Warns Developers: Embrace AI or Get Out of Your Career
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has delivered a stark warning to the global IT industry: developers who fail to embrace artificial intelligence must be prepared to leave the profession. His statement, published on the company blog under the title Developers, Reinvented, reflects not just a technological shift, but a profound reevaluation of what it means to be a programmer.
The blog is built around interviews with 22 developers who have already deeply integrated AI into their workflows. Their experiences reveal that AI is not some distant abstraction—it is a present-day imperative. As one respondent put it bluntly: “You either embrace AI, or you leave the profession.” Dohmke elevates this assertion to the central thesis of his piece.
This is not the first time AI companies have employed the looming obsolescence of human roles as a marketing strategy. Rather than promoting convenience or utility, such companies often issue a stark ultimatum: adopt AI, or be left behind. Julia Liuson, a senior executive at Microsoft—which owns GitHub—previously declared that “using AI is no longer optional.”
Dohmke writes that many developers initially approached tools like GitHub Copilot with skepticism, dismissing them as a passing trend. Yet, over time, these developers transformed into “AI strategists,” delegating routine code to machines while focusing on system design, crafting effective prompts, and verifying outputs. According to the CEO, developers now describe themselves not as coders, but as “creative directors of code.”
This is more than a mere change in tools. Dohmke contends that the role of the developer is shifting from code creation to architectural oversight and auditing of AI-generated code. Those who adapt early are not diminished—they gain a strategic edge. Developers are no longer just accelerating processes; they are scaling their ambitions—redesigning complex systems and orchestrating multiple AI agents to collaborate on a single function.
Dohmke predicts that up to 90% of code may soon be generated by AI—perhaps within two to five years. In this emerging paradigm, critical skills will include systems thinking, AI fluency, the ability to delegate effectively, and quality assurance. In essence, programming is evolving from manual labor into the orchestration of digital agents.
He acknowledges that not everyone will welcome this transformation: “Not everyone will want to change. And that’s okay.” But Dohmke’s conclusion is unequivocal: those unwilling to evolve must prepare to pursue a different career path.
