Microsoft’s top executive to software engineers: If you’re going to work with AI-generated code, you need…

Is coding an important skill in the age of AI? A Microsoft executive may have the answer. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer for Experiences & Devices, Aparna Chennapragada, strongly defended the importance of learning to code—despite the rapid rise of AI tools that can now generate large parts of software. Rejecting the idea that AI might soon replace human programmers, she said, “Betting against computer science is like betting against reading in the 14th century”.

When asked by Bloomberg’s Emily Chang if children still need to learn to code and companies still need engineers, Chennapragada gave an emphatic “Yes, yes, and yes”.