GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has made a forceful case that artificial intelligence, rather than replacing software engineers, will become a massive accelerator for their productivity — and will drive a surge in demand for human developers at the most forward-thinking companies.
“The companies that are the smartest are going to hire more developers,” Dohmke said in a recent podcast interview. “Because if you 10x a single developer, then 10 developers can do 100x.”
His remarks come at a time of heightened anxiety in the global tech industry. Tech giants including Amazon, Google, Meta, and Salesforce have laid off tens of thousands of employees since 2023, with many citing restructuring for an “AI-first” future. That wave of job cuts has fueled fears that artificial intelligence is not just enhancing productivity — it’s replacing human workers.
But Dohmke, whose company GitHub is at the center of the AI-software development revolution through its AI assistant Copilot, offered a counter-narrative: AI doesn’t reduce the need for developers — it expands what they can do. He called AI a “force multiplier” that amplifies the capability of engineering teams and unlocks more complex and ambitious projects that were previously out of reach.
“AI Is Not a Shortcut to Billion-Dollar Startups”
Dohmke was especially dismissive of the idea that AI tools have made coding skills irrelevant. He acknowledged that while AI has democratized access to programming, allowing even novices to build apps or automate workflows, professional software development still requires deep technical expertise, especially in enterprise environments.
“I think the idea that AI without any coding skills lets you just build a billion-dollar business is mistaken,” he said. “Because if that were the case, everyone would do it.”
Far from eliminating the need for developers, AI has only sharpened the demand for skilled engineers who can integrate, manage, and scale the increasingly complex systems modern businesses rely on, he indicated.
Layoffs, Panic, and a Fork in the Road
Dohmke’s comments land in the midst of a growing divide in the tech world. On one side are leaders and analysts who warn that AI — especially generative tools like ChatGPT and Claude — could render millions of jobs obsolete. IBM, for instance, said last year it would pause hiring for roles it believed AI could eventually replace. Goldman Sachs projected that 300 million jobs could be affected by AI globally.
On the other side are AI optimists like Dohmke, who argue that the technology will create new opportunities even as it reshapes existing workflows. From his perspective, companies are at a fork in the road: those that embrace AI to empower developers and scale faster will pull ahead, while those that see it only as a cost-cutting tool may fall behind.
“The best companies are hiring more engineers, not fewer,” he said. “Because AI helps you move faster — not shrink your team.”
Dohmke also emphasized that while AI helps speed up software creation, it hasn’t reduced the overall workload for development teams. In fact, by enabling faster iteration and easier prototyping, AI has led teams to take on even more projects.
Instead of drying up development pipelines, AI has widened them. We haven’t seen a single company eliminate their developer workload, Dohmke said, adding that in fact, they’re just doing more with the same or slightly bigger teams.
He called this the “most exciting time to be a developer,” explaining that AI tools have brought the long-held dream of turning an idea over coffee into a working app by nightfall closer to reality than ever before.
GitHub and Microsoft Betting Big on Human-AI Collaboration
Dohmke’s stance aligns with Microsoft’s broader strategy around AI, which emphasizes human-AI collaboration, not replacement. GitHub Copilot, one of the first widely used generative AI coding tools, now serves over 1.5 million developers and is deeply embedded into workflows at major companies. Microsoft has described it as one of the most transformative productivity tools in recent memory.
By enabling developers to write code faster, fix bugs in real time, and prototype with ease, Copilot is a prime example of how AI can augment human potential, not sideline it.
As the tech industry tries to find its footing in the post-AI boom era, Dohmke’s remarks are a timely reminder that while job roles may evolve, the core value of human ingenuity remains. AI, far from being a job destroyer, may prove to be the ultimate catalyst for growth — for developers, and for the companies wise enough to invest in them.
The GitHub’s top executive is thus saying that the future doesn’t belong to companies cutting staff and betting solely on machines. It belongs to those building alongside them — with developers still firmly at the wheel.