Just Adapt Is Not An Answer

I think "Just adapt" is not good enough as career advice for engineers.

I saw a talk recently from Zach Lloyd, founder of Warp, about where software engineering is going. Engineers stop writing the product. They start building the system of agents that builds it. So far so good, but in the Q&A, someone asked what skill matters most now. His answer was to be able to adapt.

I somewhat disagree. When I interview candidates, I like to ask where they think the role of engineers is going. An answer like "No idea, actually. Just try to accept changes and adapt." is not convincing.

Adapting generally means following a process someone else designed. The role I hire for designs that process and works towards solving problems. If the job becomes building the system that builds the product, you need your own view on where it should go. What are the acceptance criteria for a system that builds products? Adapting to whatever happens is not enough on its own.