AI is shifting the bottleneck in software development from coding speed to human attention. The best developers are no longer spending their days in deep flow states writing code — they're orchestrating multiple AI agents simultaneously, much like a conductor directing an orchestra. This parallels the experience of executives who manage many parallel workstreams and must learn to protect their attention, manage energy, and make decisions with incomplete information. The author argues that engineering careers need to be redesigned around these new demands, as human attention — not technical skill execution — becomes the scarce resource in software delivery.
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