I see a lot on Linked In about AI being the end of junior software engineers. I don't think this has to be true.

It will depend on how and in what they are trained. The learning will need to be different- fundamentals will be more important, and we will have to go harder earlier at things like engineering principles and design patterns. As the code creation part becomes more automatic, the types of things that were learned over time mostly by experience and osmosis will have to become more explicit.

There will likely be a greater disconnect between what is taught in school or university and what the reality of the work environment is, and we will have to fill that. I don't see universities pivoting and adapting as quickly as work places are going to have to.

Some of our DI people are using AI tooling regularly within their client work, and some are not. We are running AI Enablement projects to get everyone to the same place. We started with our graduates, and it led to some interesting and varied outcomes, which informs us what we need to change and how we need to teach these different skills.

Juniors bring more to a team than just inexperience. They bring enthusiasm, drive, open mindedness, curiosity, and a different perspective- qualities that aren't always present in more seasoned engineers. The juniors with the right characteristics will always excel.