I'm a Microsoft software engineer. AI makes hitting my deadlines much easier, but I'm still skeptical it will replace me.

The article is a first-person essay from a Microsoft senior software engineer arguing that AI tools like Copilot and Claude have significantly improved productivity and shortened software development cycles. He says projects that once took about a month can now be completed in days to a week, and revisions after the first build have sped up dramatically. However, he remains cautious: AI can hallucinate, and the hardest part is detecting when it is wrong. He views AI as an assistant rather than a replacement, emphasizing that engineers still need domain knowledge, judgment, and responsibility for product design. The piece suggests AI is likely to become a standard part of everyday work rather than a direct substitute for software engineers, which is mildly supportive for Microsoft’s productivity narrative but not a direct market-moving corporate event.