Gergely Orosz
@gergely.pragmaticengineer.com
Writing The Pragmatic Engineer (@pragmaticengineer.com), the #1 technology newsletter on Substack. Author of The Software Engineer's Guidebook (engguidebook.com). Formerly at Uber, Skype, Skyscanner. More at pragmaticengineer.com
The more I use these agents (that now do write code that is pretty good, but ofc I need to verify and keep them in check), the more I feel we're going to see the "Microsoft Frontpage" moment in tech:
Frontpage DID make every and all web devs redundant from 2007. As we all know.
Frontpage DID make every and all web devs redundant from 2007. As we all know.
January 14, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The more I use these agents (that now do write code that is pretty good, but ofc I need to verify and keep them in check), the more I feel we're going to see the "Microsoft Frontpage" moment in tech:
Frontpage DID make every and all web devs redundant from 2007. As we all know.
Frontpage DID make every and all web devs redundant from 2007. As we all know.
The Pragmatic Summit:
A one-of-a-kind event where you'll hear from (and get to meet) standout folks who have been on The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, teams who were in The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives - all of them building cutting-edge software, or researching how best to do so.
A one-of-a-kind event where you'll hear from (and get to meet) standout folks who have been on The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, teams who were in The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives - all of them building cutting-edge software, or researching how best to do so.
January 14, 2026 at 3:27 PM
The Pragmatic Summit:
A one-of-a-kind event where you'll hear from (and get to meet) standout folks who have been on The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, teams who were in The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives - all of them building cutting-edge software, or researching how best to do so.
A one-of-a-kind event where you'll hear from (and get to meet) standout folks who have been on The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast, teams who were in The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives - all of them building cutting-edge software, or researching how best to do so.
Pretty wild that LLMs seem to have trained on my 2019 article of "The product-minded engineer" and I now find blog posts published in 2025 that are an exact rehash of my post.
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
January 12, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Pretty wild that LLMs seem to have trained on my 2019 article of "The product-minded engineer" and I now find blog posts published in 2025 that are an exact rehash of my post.
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
From a founder: “A few months ago, I watched our sales team collect their monthly bonuses while my eng team who built the product, got nothing beyond their base comp. It pissed me off.
So I built an AI-powered platform that evaluates+scores PRs using Claude AI”
Oh no no no
So I built an AI-powered platform that evaluates+scores PRs using Claude AI”
Oh no no no
January 12, 2026 at 1:57 PM
From a founder: “A few months ago, I watched our sales team collect their monthly bonuses while my eng team who built the product, got nothing beyond their base comp. It pissed me off.
So I built an AI-powered platform that evaluates+scores PRs using Claude AI”
Oh no no no
So I built an AI-powered platform that evaluates+scores PRs using Claude AI”
Oh no no no
Wild - I am in the UK for a short while (I don't live here) and lost access to my Bluesky messages thanks to UK regulation
I would need to give information to a third party just to see DMs
... and this is why I always have my trusty VPN subscription. Had to turn it on *just to read my messages*
I would need to give information to a third party just to see DMs
... and this is why I always have my trusty VPN subscription. Had to turn it on *just to read my messages*
January 11, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Wild - I am in the UK for a short while (I don't live here) and lost access to my Bluesky messages thanks to UK regulation
I would need to give information to a third party just to see DMs
... and this is why I always have my trusty VPN subscription. Had to turn it on *just to read my messages*
I would need to give information to a third party just to see DMs
... and this is why I always have my trusty VPN subscription. Had to turn it on *just to read my messages*
One thing many miss about the potential impact of AI on the tech industry: better tools raise the *floor*
Look at games. Building a game engine used to be a MASSIVE effort. Today, games engines are commoditized. And yet it's gotten harder, not easier to build a game that stands out!
Look at games. Building a game engine used to be a MASSIVE effort. Today, games engines are commoditized. And yet it's gotten harder, not easier to build a game that stands out!
January 11, 2026 at 2:51 PM
One thing many miss about the potential impact of AI on the tech industry: better tools raise the *floor*
Look at games. Building a game engine used to be a MASSIVE effort. Today, games engines are commoditized. And yet it's gotten harder, not easier to build a game that stands out!
Look at games. Building a game engine used to be a MASSIVE effort. Today, games engines are commoditized. And yet it's gotten harder, not easier to build a game that stands out!
Update: ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity were all wrong in their interpretation
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
I’m asking for legal advice for a complicated situation.
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
January 8, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Update: ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity were all wrong in their interpretation
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
There is plenty of value to go to a legal professional - heck, to work with a professional in any area that is high stakes! AI sounds smart but it can (+ does) get lots wrong while sounding confident
Models suddenly getting good enough to write most of my code - which I am now prompting - creates complicated feelings.
It took a long time to get good at coding. And it's not easy. Plus, there was something special about being in "the zone."
Full: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-grief-wh...
It took a long time to get good at coding. And it's not easy. Plus, there was something special about being in "the zone."
Full: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-grief-wh...
January 7, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Models suddenly getting good enough to write most of my code - which I am now prompting - creates complicated feelings.
It took a long time to get good at coding. And it's not easy. Plus, there was something special about being in "the zone."
Full: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-grief-wh...
It took a long time to get good at coding. And it's not easy. Plus, there was something special about being in "the zone."
Full: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-grief-wh...
"As part of these updates, {product you pay for} may use customer content and service outputs for internal quality improvement and internal model training purposes.
You may opt out at any time by..."
Don't want to opt out. I want to choose whether to opt in when paying!
You may opt out at any time by..."
Don't want to opt out. I want to choose whether to opt in when paying!
January 7, 2026 at 5:09 PM
"As part of these updates, {product you pay for} may use customer content and service outputs for internal quality improvement and internal model training purposes.
You may opt out at any time by..."
Don't want to opt out. I want to choose whether to opt in when paying!
You may opt out at any time by..."
Don't want to opt out. I want to choose whether to opt in when paying!
On 1 Dec 2020, AWS S3 announced that all writes to S3 are now strongly consistent (not eventually consistent, like before) *at no price change or latency changes* to any customers.
Pulling this off was probably one of the biggest invisible engineering achievements of the decade
Pulling this off was probably one of the biggest invisible engineering achievements of the decade
January 6, 2026 at 9:04 PM
On 1 Dec 2020, AWS S3 announced that all writes to S3 are now strongly consistent (not eventually consistent, like before) *at no price change or latency changes* to any customers.
Pulling this off was probably one of the biggest invisible engineering achievements of the decade
Pulling this off was probably one of the biggest invisible engineering achievements of the decade
We’re entering the age of AI slop that people believe en masse.
This post is 100% fake and probably AI generated. All made up. Yet massive number of upvotes, views and shares.
Journalist @caseynewton.bsky.social got in touch with the “whistleblower.” The guy faked all “evidence” with AI…
This post is 100% fake and probably AI generated. All made up. Yet massive number of upvotes, views and shares.
Journalist @caseynewton.bsky.social got in touch with the “whistleblower.” The guy faked all “evidence” with AI…
January 6, 2026 at 8:03 AM
We’re entering the age of AI slop that people believe en masse.
This post is 100% fake and probably AI generated. All made up. Yet massive number of upvotes, views and shares.
Journalist @caseynewton.bsky.social got in touch with the “whistleblower.” The guy faked all “evidence” with AI…
This post is 100% fake and probably AI generated. All made up. Yet massive number of upvotes, views and shares.
Journalist @caseynewton.bsky.social got in touch with the “whistleblower.” The guy faked all “evidence” with AI…
Reposted by Gergely Orosz
How tech companies measure the impact of AI on software development
It's a hard thing to measure, fwiw. The best summary I know of comes from @lauratacho.com in this deepdive of how 15+ tech companies including Google, GitHub and others do it:
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-tech-c...
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-tech-c...
How tech companies measure the impact of AI on software development
How do GitHub, Google, Dropbox, Monzo, Atlassian, and 13 other companies know how well AI tools work for devs? A deepdive sharing exclusive details, with CTO Laura Tacho
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:18 AM
How tech companies measure the impact of AI on software development
From a startup CTO: "Over the break, I realized how good these models have gotten. This year we'll be using them ~10x more vs last year.
So my first order of business: I want to find a solution to measure our *current* dev productivity so I have a baseline to compare to, later."
So my first order of business: I want to find a solution to measure our *current* dev productivity so I have a baseline to compare to, later."
January 5, 2026 at 10:01 AM
From a startup CTO: "Over the break, I realized how good these models have gotten. This year we'll be using them ~10x more vs last year.
So my first order of business: I want to find a solution to measure our *current* dev productivity so I have a baseline to compare to, later."
So my first order of business: I want to find a solution to measure our *current* dev productivity so I have a baseline to compare to, later."
One thing every tech company is doing but few share with anyone:
evaluating AI tools for devs - for coding, for infra (eg gateway), for code review etc. Tons of vendors, unclear which one to buy.
Share what you / your team found, and I'll share what others are seeing and what they measure (cont'd)
evaluating AI tools for devs - for coding, for infra (eg gateway), for code review etc. Tons of vendors, unclear which one to buy.
Share what you / your team found, and I'll share what others are seeing and what they measure (cont'd)
January 4, 2026 at 6:51 PM
One thing every tech company is doing but few share with anyone:
evaluating AI tools for devs - for coding, for infra (eg gateway), for code review etc. Tons of vendors, unclear which one to buy.
Share what you / your team found, and I'll share what others are seeing and what they measure (cont'd)
evaluating AI tools for devs - for coding, for infra (eg gateway), for code review etc. Tons of vendors, unclear which one to buy.
Share what you / your team found, and I'll share what others are seeing and what they measure (cont'd)
I’m asking for legal advice for a complicated situation.
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
January 4, 2026 at 10:02 AM
I’m asking for legal advice for a complicated situation.
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
Feels like I’m waiting weeks (while a partner reviews the case) and paying a large sum to confirm what Claude and ChatGPT analysed + on the situation and articles is correct, and get it in writing + stamped
For the last ~20 years, I did most of my coding inside an IDE - the last ~15 with increasingly good autocomplete.
Which is why it’s so weird that I barely opened an IDE the last two weeks, even as I pushed lots of code. I use the CLI, the web and my phone (!!) to prompt code
Which is why it’s so weird that I barely opened an IDE the last two weeks, even as I pushed lots of code. I use the CLI, the web and my phone (!!) to prompt code
January 3, 2026 at 1:59 PM
For the last ~20 years, I did most of my coding inside an IDE - the last ~15 with increasingly good autocomplete.
Which is why it’s so weird that I barely opened an IDE the last two weeks, even as I pushed lots of code. I use the CLI, the web and my phone (!!) to prompt code
Which is why it’s so weird that I barely opened an IDE the last two weeks, even as I pushed lots of code. I use the CLI, the web and my phone (!!) to prompt code
Amazing: The Software Engineer’s Guidebook now has 6 translations, and 8 different paperback versions:
Top (left to right): Japanese, Simplified Chinese (China). Mongolian, Korean
Bottom: English (India edition), English hardcover, German, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
Top (left to right): Japanese, Simplified Chinese (China). Mongolian, Korean
Bottom: English (India edition), English hardcover, German, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
December 30, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Amazing: The Software Engineer’s Guidebook now has 6 translations, and 8 different paperback versions:
Top (left to right): Japanese, Simplified Chinese (China). Mongolian, Korean
Bottom: English (India edition), English hardcover, German, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
Top (left to right): Japanese, Simplified Chinese (China). Mongolian, Korean
Bottom: English (India edition), English hardcover, German, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
Two legends confirmed for The Pragmatic Summit: Martin Fowler (@martinfowler.com) and Kent Beck (@kentbeck.com)
We'll talk about what past booms+busts taught them, and their take on AI+software engineering: what they see working, and what not so much
11 Feb, SF: www.pragmaticsummit.com
We'll talk about what past booms+busts taught them, and their take on AI+software engineering: what they see working, and what not so much
11 Feb, SF: www.pragmaticsummit.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Two legends confirmed for The Pragmatic Summit: Martin Fowler (@martinfowler.com) and Kent Beck (@kentbeck.com)
We'll talk about what past booms+busts taught them, and their take on AI+software engineering: what they see working, and what not so much
11 Feb, SF: www.pragmaticsummit.com
We'll talk about what past booms+busts taught them, and their take on AI+software engineering: what they see working, and what not so much
11 Feb, SF: www.pragmaticsummit.com
There's a new trend on LinkedIn where people with zero original thoughts have AI generate what they assume are next-level posts.
Except the AI hallucinates.
The whole thing is nonsense.
Everyone rolls eyes -except the person posting it, thinking "wow, AI makes this easy!"
Except the AI hallucinates.
The whole thing is nonsense.
Everyone rolls eyes -except the person posting it, thinking "wow, AI makes this easy!"
December 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
There's a new trend on LinkedIn where people with zero original thoughts have AI generate what they assume are next-level posts.
Except the AI hallucinates.
The whole thing is nonsense.
Everyone rolls eyes -except the person posting it, thinking "wow, AI makes this easy!"
Except the AI hallucinates.
The whole thing is nonsense.
Everyone rolls eyes -except the person posting it, thinking "wow, AI makes this easy!"
Whenever I see a prediction on how AI will result in fewer hours worked, I think of AI startups:
They have no budget limit on how much devs can spend on AI (so they spend a TON)
And yet, their devs tend to work MORE than anywhere else though... to outcompete other AI startups!!
They have no budget limit on how much devs can spend on AI (so they spend a TON)
And yet, their devs tend to work MORE than anywhere else though... to outcompete other AI startups!!
December 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Whenever I see a prediction on how AI will result in fewer hours worked, I think of AI startups:
They have no budget limit on how much devs can spend on AI (so they spend a TON)
And yet, their devs tend to work MORE than anywhere else though... to outcompete other AI startups!!
They have no budget limit on how much devs can spend on AI (so they spend a TON)
And yet, their devs tend to work MORE than anywhere else though... to outcompete other AI startups!!
Why Revolut is winning and traditional banks left behind:
Last time my “traditional” credit card # got stolen: I noticed it, spent ~15 minutes on the phone to report it; got a new card 1 week later
With Revolut: THEY noticed it, 1 tap to cancel; 1 minute for a new card! Amazing
Last time my “traditional” credit card # got stolen: I noticed it, spent ~15 minutes on the phone to report it; got a new card 1 week later
With Revolut: THEY noticed it, 1 tap to cancel; 1 minute for a new card! Amazing
December 22, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Why Revolut is winning and traditional banks left behind:
Last time my “traditional” credit card # got stolen: I noticed it, spent ~15 minutes on the phone to report it; got a new card 1 week later
With Revolut: THEY noticed it, 1 tap to cancel; 1 minute for a new card! Amazing
Last time my “traditional” credit card # got stolen: I noticed it, spent ~15 minutes on the phone to report it; got a new card 1 week later
With Revolut: THEY noticed it, 1 tap to cancel; 1 minute for a new card! Amazing
My most awkward job offer: when Skyscanner offered a contract, I had to request a weird amendment to it. Independent of my hiring (done by a different division), Skyscanner acquired my brother's startup the same month...
Screenshot from the podcast: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/design-fir...
Screenshot from the podcast: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/design-fir...
December 21, 2025 at 8:43 PM
My most awkward job offer: when Skyscanner offered a contract, I had to request a weird amendment to it. Independent of my hiring (done by a different division), Skyscanner acquired my brother's startup the same month...
Screenshot from the podcast: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/design-fir...
Screenshot from the podcast: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/design-fir...
What was the Dotcom Boom like? Bryan Cantrill (@bcantrill.bsky.social - cofounder and CTO at Oxide):
"One of my early life lessons: that boom will go on longer than you think possible, and when it switches, it will collapse faster than you can fathom."
"One of my early life lessons: that boom will go on longer than you think possible, and when it switches, it will collapse faster than you can fathom."
December 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
What was the Dotcom Boom like? Bryan Cantrill (@bcantrill.bsky.social - cofounder and CTO at Oxide):
"One of my early life lessons: that boom will go on longer than you think possible, and when it switches, it will collapse faster than you can fathom."
"One of my early life lessons: that boom will go on longer than you think possible, and when it switches, it will collapse faster than you can fathom."
Probably the most entertaining -and unlikely!- story in tech this year:
A software engineer tricking more than a dozen Y Combinator startups: acing the interview, then delivering little to no work, collecting paychecks, and swindling the next company newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-10x-ov...
A software engineer tricking more than a dozen Y Combinator startups: acing the interview, then delivering little to no work, collecting paychecks, and swindling the next company newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-10x-ov...
December 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Probably the most entertaining -and unlikely!- story in tech this year:
A software engineer tricking more than a dozen Y Combinator startups: acing the interview, then delivering little to no work, collecting paychecks, and swindling the next company newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-10x-ov...
A software engineer tricking more than a dozen Y Combinator startups: acing the interview, then delivering little to no work, collecting paychecks, and swindling the next company newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-10x-ov...
One really, really, really good use case for AI and coding:
Writing unit integration tests.
I always hated doing these, because most of the effort was about the setup (remembering how to use the test framework, how to create a fake, a mock, the syntax)
Love handing it off!!
Writing unit integration tests.
I always hated doing these, because most of the effort was about the setup (remembering how to use the test framework, how to create a fake, a mock, the syntax)
Love handing it off!!
December 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
One really, really, really good use case for AI and coding:
Writing unit integration tests.
I always hated doing these, because most of the effort was about the setup (remembering how to use the test framework, how to create a fake, a mock, the syntax)
Love handing it off!!
Writing unit integration tests.
I always hated doing these, because most of the effort was about the setup (remembering how to use the test framework, how to create a fake, a mock, the syntax)
Love handing it off!!