How AI agents will redefine the role of developers by 2026

By Rowan Trollope, CEO of Redis

Going into 2026, being a developer will start to look a lot different. We’ll start to see developers who don’t just write code – they’ll orchestrate and manage their own teams of AI agents, each trained to build with a different language, or specialisation. This will be especially important for entry-level developers. Instead of being generalists ready to learn, they’ll act more like managers who can direct their teams of agents to do the same entry-level work, but at 10x the volume they can do by hand.

Rather than replacing human ingenuity, AI agents will amplify it, enabling faster experimentation and more complex problem solving. Success will hinge on how effectively teams integrate these tools, maintain oversight and manage data at scale effectively. The future of software development is a collaboration between humans, machines and the systems they ...