Sridhar Vembu’s Candid Warning: Software Engineering Salaries Aren’t a Birthright Amid AI Disruption

Sridhar Vembu, the founder and Chief Scientist of Zoho, recently took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to offer a sobering perspective on the tech industry, warning software professionals not to assume their current advantages will last forever. His comments have since sparked widespread discussion, echoing across industry forums and social media alike.

“The fact that software engineers get paid better than mechanical engineers or civil engineers or chemists or school teachers is not some birthright and we cannot take that for granted,” Vembu wrote.

The message was clear: the industry is changing, and assumptions about job security, industry dominance, and pay scales may no longer hold in the era of AI and automation.

An Era of Rapid Disruption

Vembu’s comments come at a time when Large Language Models (LLMs), like OpenAI’s GPT and other generative AI tools, are reshaping the productivity dynamics of software development. He cautioned:

“The productivity revolution I see coming to software development (LLMs + tooling) could destroy a lot of software jobs. This is sobering but necessary to internalise.”

This warning is not just about technology replacing tasks, it is about becoming too comfortable. Drawing from Andy Grove’s famous quote, Vembu reiterated: “Only the paranoid survive.” (Grove was a Hungarian-American businessman and engineer who served as the third CEO of Intel Corporation.)

Reactions from the Community

Several users responded to Vembu’s post, echoing similar concerns. One user remarked that many people wrongly assume software jobs will always be secure, even as AI makes development faster and more accessible. Another user commented that engineers must abandon the mindset that coding is a highly complex task reserved only for experts because, in some areas, AI can now do it more effectively.

There were also thoughtful opinions. One commenter pointed out that software engineers are paid for scale, you fix a bug, and a million people have a better experience. That level of impact isn’t easily achievable in most other professions. Others suggested that domain-specific developers who understand business context will continue to be highly valuable.

However, not all responses were in agreement. One voice raised concern about this messaging being used as “propaganda” to encourage longer working hours for less pay, reflecting a broader worry about how productivity gains are shared.

I have often said this to our employees: the fact that software engineers get paid better than mechanical engineers or civil engineers or chemists or school teachers is not some birthright and we cannot take that for granted, and we cannot assume it will last forever.

The fact…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) May 18, 2025

A Necessary Reality Check

Sridhar Vembu’s message is less of a warning and more of a reality check for the tech industry. In an age where AI is democratising access to technical skills, engineers and knowledge workers must shift their focus from rote execution to high-value, context-aware problem solving.

The future may not be bleak, but it certainly will be different, and only those who remain adaptable and humble may truly thrive.

Sridhar Vembu: A Journey from Vision to Zoho’s Global Success | Biography | Early Life | Zoho

Discover the entrepreneurial journey, leadership insights, and vision that propelled Sridhar Vembu to shape the success of one of the leading global software companies, Zoho Corporation. Learn about Sridhar Vembu education, net worth, story, native place, birth date, family, children, and more.

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