Redefining the Developer Role - A Case Study on Human-AI Collaboration in Software Engineering at a Large Manufacturing Company

Sammanfattning

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is fundamentally transforming softwareengineering. While the potential efficiency gains of these tools are widely recognized,their impact on roles and organizations in real-world contexts is only beginning toemerge. This case study investigates the integration and consequences of GenAI ata large Swedish manufacturing company through 25 interviews with participantsfrom multiple software engineering domains. Specifically, the research examinescurrent usage patterns, concrete use cases, and practices for human-AI collaboration. The results indicate that GenAI integration profoundly redefines developers’identities, shifting their primary roles from traditional “coders” to “code reviewers”and “software architects”. Developers are moving upstream in the developmentcycle, assuming responsibilities traditionally held by product owners and projectmanagers. Core competencies are shifting as the need for syntax memorization isreplaced by systems thinking and communication skills. While the vast majority ofparticipants reported individual time savings, this efficiency is largely reinvested intoraising quality baselines rather than directly increasing output volume. Furthermore,developers across all domains remain reluctant to trust autonomous AI without stricthuman oversight. The study also reveals significant disparities in GenAI adoption,with embedded systems developers demonstrating slower adoption rates. At theorganizational level, GenAI presents new opportunities, such as cognitive offloadingand enhanced cross-functional communication. However, it also introduces newchallenges and bottlenecks. The primary development bottleneck has shifted fromhow to build a solution to what to build, accompanied by a shift toward requirementsengineering and an emerging “deskilling” threat that could result in a future shortageof developers with deep domain expertise. To realize the true potential of GenAI,organizations must take proactive responsibility for upskilling, unifying AI strategies,and protecting the junior developer role.