Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has issued a cautionary note to software engineers, stating that the era of consistently higher salaries for tech roles may not last forever.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu wrote, “I have often said this to our employees: the fact that software engineers get paid better than mechanical engineers or civil engineers or chemists or school teachers is not some birthright. We cannot take that for granted, and we cannot assume it will last forever.”
He also emphasized the importance of not assuming that customers will always be willing to pay for software products, urging tech professionals to remain vigilant about their value proposition.
Citing Intel’s former CEO Andy Grove, Vembu added: “Only the paranoid survive. This is to remind ourselves that we can be disrupted — and the more we assume we won’t be, the more likely we will be.”
Highlighting the impact of emerging technologies, he warned that the rise of AI tools like large language models (LLMs) and advanced development platforms could significantly reduce the demand for traditional software development roles.
“The productivity revolution I see coming to software development (LLMs + tooling) could destroy a lot of software jobs. This is sobering but necessary to internalize,” he noted.
This isn’t the first time Vembu has addressed the disruptive potential of AI. In a post last month, he pointed to how artificial intelligence is already affecting the job landscape.
“Vendors are promising large savings from eliminating jobs using AI, but according to the study linked below, the labor market impact of AI is ‘small’ — at least so far. The field is moving fast, and I personally believe there will be impact, but we have not seen it yet. It’s always good to be aware of hype vs reality when evaluating any technology,” he said.