Artificial intelligence ladder has climbed so fast that it is difficult to understand where we are really right now. While “AI’s professionals and opposition” debates have not landed anywhere, the Vice President of OpenaiI said how AI is redefining engineering again. Srinivas Narayanan, vice president of engineering in Openai, said that the future of software engineering is no longer about writing code, it is about thinking like a boss.

Addressing the crowd in Sangam 2025, the major innovation summit organized by the IIT Madras Alumni Association, he kept his vision for the developed role of engineers in the AI-Interested world. “For every software engineer, the job is going to shift to be an CEO from being an engineer. Now you have to do so much tools, so I think it means that you should take great aspirations,” he said.

Kodar needs to think like a CEO

Those days have come when engineers needed to worry about every technical detail. With the rise of advanced AI equipment, engineers are being freed from the weeds of execution. Narayanan described these systems as more than the assistants, they are now taking the important part of the building process, allowing humans to focus on leadership, strategy and purpose.

He explained, “AI systems are moving beyond answering only questions.” As the machines manage “how” and “why” will need to define “what” and “why”, the kind of big-digestion that it thinks is the scope of the company’s founders and C-suits leaders for a long time.

“Of course, the software is interesting and exciting,” he said, “but just the ability to think big is going to be incredibly empowered to the people, and those who are successful (in the future) are those who are going to be able to think big.”

Narayanan, who has led to the development of some of the most advanced systems of OpenAII, including Codex, Cloud-based engineering agents, able to complete complex programming functions, argued that AI enables small teams to achieve external influences.

He said, “An organization should be able to do much more things with people that we have. I hope it enhances the capacity for all of us as individuals and organizations, to complete more than what we have,” he said.

AI revolution in research

His message was not limited to the world of software. Narayanan also said how AI is revolutionizing research, sharing examples of models that can argue through difficult scientific problems and even help in medical discoveries. A compelling example helps AI to diagnose rare genetic disorders, an area where speed and accuracy can lead to life-changing.

Despite the transformational power of these devices, Narayan acknowledged the need for careful development. He talked about Openai’s safety approach, keeping in mind the importance of railing in preventing misuse and reducing misinformation. He said, “We do not do everything right on the first attempt, but we learn fast and recur.”