Finnish IT magazine Tivi: When AI starts building itself - what happens to software developers?

In an interview with Finnish IT magazine Tivi, Nortal Finland’s Chief Technology Officer Jarkko Enden discusses how artificial intelligence is transforming software development - when used correctly. While AI enables almost anyone to generate code, Enden argues that enterprise systems cannot be built through intuition or “vibe coding” alone. Secure, maintainable and business-critical software requires structure, precision and architectural thinking, pushing future IT professionals to think more like architects than programmers.

A central theme of the discussion is the rise of AI agent swarms, coordinated groups of specialized AI agents operating under human guidance. Instead of asking AI to build entire applications, development is broken down into smaller, well-defined tasks, with orchestration and verification agents ensuring correctness and consistency. This approach enables significantly faster development and validation, while shifting developers’ roles toward defining requirements, orchestrating workflows and validating outcomes rather than focusing solely on writing code.

At the same time, Enden emphasizes that traditional programming skills remain essential. Developers must still be able to read, write and assess code to ensure quality, security and trust. He highlights concrete benefits already emerging, such as dramatically accelerated pilot development and AI-assisted legacy modernization, while also acknowledging ongoing challenges, particularly around ensuring code quality, explainability and customer understanding when AI can generate vast amounts of code in a very short time.

Looking ahead, Enden touches on more radical possibilities, including the long-term impact of increasingly autonomous AI systems and their convergence with other emerging technologies.

To delve deeper into Enden’s insights on AI agent swarms, architectural thinking and the future of software development, read the full interview on Tivi.