AI To Take Over Most Coding Jobs? Zoho's Sridhar Vembu Weighs In

Vembu, who stepped down as Zoho’s CEO earlier this year, cited AI’s rapid advancements as one of the key reasons for his transition towards research and development.

Vembu’s concerns are shared by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Source : X/@svembu

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, its impact on the world of programming is becoming more evident. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has predicted that AI will eventually handle 90 per cent of coding tasks, significantly reducing the need for manual programming.

"When people say 'AI will write 90 per cent of the code' I readily agree because 90 per cent of what programmers write is 'boiler plate'," Vembu stated on X (formerly Twitter).

The software veteran explained that programming consists of two types of complexity—essential and accidental. While essential complexity requires human expertise, accidental complexity, which involves repetitive and template-based coding, can be easily managed by AI.

"In essence, AI can make mincemeat of patterns already discovered (by humans). Can it find totally new patterns?" Vembu questioned, emphasizing that while AI can optimize existing processes, its ability to innovate remains uncertain.

A Shift In Focus For Zoho’s Founder

Vembu, who stepped down as Zoho’s CEO earlier this year, cited AI’s rapid advancements as one of the key reasons for his transition towards research and development.

"In view of the various challenges and opportunities facing us, including recent major developments in AI, it has been decided that it is best that I should focus full time on R&D initiatives, along with pursuing my personal rural development mission," he had previously stated.

His remarks come at a time when the software industry is witnessing a paradigm shift, with AI increasingly automating coding processes.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman Echoes The Sentiment

Vembu’s concerns are shared by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has also pointed out that AI’s role in coding is expanding rapidly.

"Each software engineer will just do much, much more for a while," Altman said in a recent interview. "And then at some point, yeah, maybe we do need less software engineers."

He further revealed that AI is already responsible for generating a significant portion of code in various companies. "I think in many companies, it's probably past 50 per cent now," he noted, suggesting that the next step — "agentic coding" — is still on the horizon.

As AI continues to evolve, the debate over its impact on the software industry remains ongoing. While automation promises efficiency, the role of human ingenuity in coding is still up for discussion.