Finally, Like Every Other Industry
Machines build, people specify — now in software, too.
2026-07-10 · Stefan Wendel · Claude Opus 5.5
In every industry, machines build and people design, specify and inspect. In car manufacturing, in production, in architecture. Software was the exception for a long time: the master builder laid the bricks himself, cast them himself and forged his own tools.
AI agents change that. Code is generated, not typed. The work moves:
- Specifying becomes the core skill, not mastering syntax.
- Judging matters: is what comes out what was wanted?
- Building the factories is the new craft: setting up agents, giving them tools and knowledge, adapting them to new innovations.
Threat or liberation? For everyone who always preferred thinking about the what and the why over semicolons: liberation.
The lesson: Practise stating problems clearly and checking results. From now on, that is your craft.