Anthropic CEO Says AI Could Replace Software Engineers in 6 to 12 Months

Dario Amodei delivered a chilling warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

By Jonathan Small | edited by Dan Bova | Jan 21, 2026

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes software engineers may soon be an extinct species. In an interview with The Economist at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Amodei said AI models could do “most, maybe all” of what software engineers currently do within six to twelve months. “I have engineers within Anthropic who say I don’t write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code, I edit it,” he said.

The bold prediction sparked intense debate on social media. One user wrote, “Software Engineering Will Be Automatable in 12 Months. Yeah, we’re cooked.” Another noted the shift: “AI models will be able to do most, maybe all of what software engineers do end-to-end within 6 to 12 months, shifting engineers to editors.”

Amodei admitted he wasn’t completely certain how fast the transition will happen, noting some components, like chip manufacturing and model training, can’t yet be automated. Before leading Anthropic, he served as Vice President of Research at OpenAI and worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Google Brain.

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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes software engineers may soon be an extinct species. In an interview with The Economist at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Amodei said AI models could do “most, maybe all” of what software engineers currently do within six to twelve months. “I have engineers within Anthropic who say I don’t write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code, I edit it,” he said.

The bold prediction sparked intense debate on social media. One user wrote, “Software Engineering Will Be Automatable in 12 Months. Yeah, we’re cooked.” Another noted the shift: “AI models will be able to do most, maybe all of what software engineers do end-to-end within 6 to 12 months, shifting engineers to editors.”

Amodei admitted he wasn’t completely certain how fast the transition will happen, noting some components, like chip manufacturing and model training, can’t yet be automated. Before leading Anthropic, he served as Vice President of Research at OpenAI and worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Google Brain.

Read more

Jonathan Small

Founder, Strike Fire Productions
Entrepreneur Staff
Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he has worked as a sought-after storyteller for top media companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Entrepreneur, and Condé Nast. He has held executive roles at Glamour, Fitness, and Entrepreneur and regularly contributes to The New York Times, TV...

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