3 Skills Engineers Need in the AI Era

Iwamoto, a former Yahoo engineer and CEO of PRUM, Inc., has shared his reflections on the skills engineers need in the AI era, based on his own experience. According to his Qiita article, the ability to use AI alone is not enough to survive; he argues that business acumen and human qualities are also indispensable. This perspective hints at where the criteria for evaluating engineers are headed in the rapidly changing tech industry.

Traditional engineering was fundamentally a passive task. The dominant style was developing what was defined as “Please make this.” However, with the evolution of AI agents and automation tools, an era has arrived where simply giving instructions to an AI can produce results. In such a world, people who merely execute orders may rapidly lose their value. Iwamoto advocates for the necessity of engineers to elevate their work to a level similar to that of a consultant.

The three skills Iwamoto identifies as essential in the AI era are as follows.

1. The Ability to Use AI Proficiency

This is the ability to become proficient with any AI tool to a certain extent after some research. For instance, if tasked with creating a 60-second commercial, it requires the capability to produce something tangible, even without prior experience. As of 2026, tools like Claude Code have emerged, significantly automating tasks on computers. While companies once existed that sold AI agents as products, we now live in an era where even individuals can build their own. Whether one experiments with a new tool upon encountering it creates a clear distinction. The Qiita article considers this ability a prerequisite.

2. Business Acumen

In other words, this equates to conceptual skills. It includes logical thinking, a broad perspective across multiple domains, flexibility, the ability to move between abstraction and concretization, the power to analyze by repeatedly asking “why,” and the capacity to see the big picture. Essentially, it is the capability of someone who can perform the job well, applicable even when industries or job types change. Iwamoto believes that those who can both use AI and possess high business acumen will survive in the coming era. Conversely, those lacking this skill may face difficult circumstances. He shares that he himself lacked this ability when he was a new graduate but developed it through continuous mental training after entering the workforce. Similar trends emphasizing the importance of conceptual abilities are discussed in [AI-era “Taste”: Selection Becomes a Core Skill].

3. Human Qualities

This refers to whether one is trusted as a person and whether others want to work with them. Taking basketball as an example, when skills are uniformized, what distinguishes winners are mental acuity and the human qualities that contribute to the team. The era of evaluating based solely on skills is ending; the value of individuals who can energize or support a team will rise. As noted in [Fu Sheng on the AI Era: The Rise of Young People and the Devaluation of Experience], the value of experience is declining, and authentic humanness is reversing to gain increased importance—it is a core element of human qualities.

Action Guidelines and the Future

Iwamoto presents three action guidelines for AI engineers to hone. First, personally experiment with and research AI tools. Second, repeatedly ask “why” and practice moving between abstraction and concretization. Third, be mindful of behaviors that make others want to work with you. Through these, in a world where skills become uniform, an individual’s logical thinking and personal character become their greatest assets.

Editorial Opinion

In the short term, there is a strong possibility that business acumen and human qualities will be rapidly incorporated into corporate criteria for evaluating engineers. In job interviews and evaluation systems, emphasis will increasingly be placed not just on technical skills, but also on the ability to propose solutions and collaborate. Proficiency with AI tools will also begin to be assumed as a fundamental ability, giving early adopters a definite advantage.

In the long term, the entire domain of engineering work will be redefined. As AI takes over routine development tasks, humans will shift to roles focused on conceptual planning and building human relationships. Educational institutions and corporate training programs may be forced to shift their emphasis toward cultivating conceptual skills and human qualities.

What the editorial team questions is: in this shift of skills, where does the line of responsibility lie between the individual and the organization? How should companies support the retraining of engineers? And how should individuals systematize their self-improvement to maintain a sense of speed? The image of an engineer in the AI era is fluid, and the answer is not yet determined.

References

• “元ヤフーエンジニア社長が考える、AI時代のエンジニアに必要な3つのスキル”, by ryoheiiwamoto — Qiita, 2026-08-24T07:31:36.000Z (ARR)
• Source URL: https://qiita.com/ryoheiiwamoto/items/5f21adcca8aff1b0357a?utm_campaign=popular_items&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=popular_items