Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, recently spoke at an industry conference about the profound changes in software engineering, declaring that the era of engineers manually writing code is over. He shared his feelings of loss regarding the traditional programming career he started as a teenager. Schmidt explained that modern programmers now primarily supervise AI agents that handle coding tasks. Instead of writing code themselves, these engineers set objectives for multiple AI assistants, allowing them to work autonomously while the programmer focuses on other activities, such as lunch. This shift began in earnest around October 2022, and Schmidt warned that any company still adhering to old coding practices is wasting valuable time. He urged business leaders to evaluate their tech teams and adapt to this new landscape of AI-assisted programming.