In 2025, I didn’t write a single line of production code, yet I delivered a massive amount of new features for Self-degree and Scrimmage. How? AI.
I'm gonna be honest with ya. Since 2023, writing code by hand has stopped being satisfying for me. Coding had become a routine grind that took more effort than it gave back. The real excitement was in planning, architecting, and designing features.
I tried to step away from coding completely, but couldn’t. In 2025, AI took the wheel. AI agents handled routine coding tasks while I focused on the interesting parts - architecture, planning, code reviews, research, and collaboration.
I’m still an engineer at heart, delivering code every day, but it’s fundamentally different from what it was a few years ago. 2025 was the year when “agentic coding” became a reality. Even skeptics have seen how powerful it is now.
This year, we got not only amazing AI models but also industry-wide adoption of multi-agent systems, MCPs, and tools that let AI call external services. We saw spec-driven development become a thing, multi-modal coding workflows, and collaborative AI code reviews.
In fact, in 2025, you could have an AI generate over 5,000 lines of code across multiple repos in one big pull request.
Looking ahead, I predict even faster change in 2026. We haven’t hit a ceiling yet. AI models are spending more tokens “thinking” relative to input/output. In 2026, I expect agents will analyze and plan for minutes before writing any code, producing results hundreds of times more reliable than today’s.
I made 20 predictions for 2026. Not surprisingly, 80% of them are about AI and its rapid adoption. The future of software is AI-driven.
Predictions for 2026
Here are 20 predictions I made for 2026. (Many involve AI, of course.) Take them with a grain of salt, but here are some I’m betting on:
- AI Browser Automation: AI will automate so much browser work that 60% of daily tasks become easier with AI than with a mouse and keyboard.
- Ukraine AI Minister: Ukraine will create an AI Minister to fight corruption and push for EU membership.
- NFT Revival: NFTs will see a comeback as a popular way for creators to claim royalties on AI-generated content.
- Neuralink + Grok: Neuralink (Elon Musk’s brain chip company) will integrate with Grok AI (the new name for xAI’s model).
- Smart Glasses Surge: AI-enabled smart glasses (like AR glasses) will surpass 20 million units sold globally.
- Person of the Year: MrBeast will be Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2026.
- Robotic Assistant: A truly useful home robot (for chores or companionship) will launch under $10K and sell over 1 million units worldwide.
- AI on Social Media: A major social media platform will create hype by introducing native AI content recognition features.
- Dev Salaries Up, Jobs Down: Software engineer salaries will rise while the number of open positions shrinks, meaning engineers need higher skills to land jobs.
- Psilocybin Legalization: At least 5 new places (countries or states) will legalize psilocybin (magic mushrooms) for medical use.
- Self-Driving Hack: There will be a notable hacking incident involving a self-driving car, making headlines.
- Ukraine Conflict: The war in Ukraine will, unfortunately, continue through 2026 (I hope I’m wrong, but this is a sober forecast).
- AI in Education: Official education systems in at least some countries will adopt AI for personalized learning paths.
- D&D Explosion: Role-playing games, especially D&D, will triple in interest due to AI tools and online platforms (watch Google Trends).
- Lovable Payments: Lovable (a startup) will launch its own payment processor.
We’ll see how many of these pan out! I find it fun to predict.