With the growing digitalization of modern life, software development provides a foundation for technological development. It is a rapidly evolving industry, where new approaches emerge every year, demanding businesses embrace them to stay afloat. With more than ten years of experience in the field, Nikhil Badwaik, currently a Senior Software Engineer at Nike Inc., has accumulated a wide understanding of these trends. He notes that while the growing role of AI-powered tools in software development seems to be discussed the most, the emerging changes are not limited to it.
Nikhil Badwaik's career path includes working as a QA Engineer or Software Engineer in several companies, such as Horizon Technologies, Prokarma, and Nike Inc. Based on his experience, he highlights the following important trends to pay attention to in the second half of 2024 and beyond.
Artificial Intelligence — From Experimentation to Practice
While many companies started exploring the opportunities brought by the recent progress in machine learning and LLMs already in 2023, for many, it remained in the experimentation stage. "Now, more companies are transitioning from testing out various opportunities to implementing AI-powered tools into their existing processes, making them part of the workflow," explains Nikhil Badwaik. "The tools in question do not replace human developers but relieve them from routing tasks and eventually increasing their productivity." Moreover, with simpler tasks being relegated to AI, the role of quality assurance increases. Consequently, the demand increases for developers with experience in QA Testing as a part of their skill set, such as Nikhil Badwaik himself, who had a position as a QA Engineer at several companies since the start of his career in 2008 at Sunil Hi-Tech.
According to some estimations, AI-powered tools will allow developers to gain 20–50$ of productivity, depending on the field they are working in. As proof of that, according to Forbes, in 2023, more than 10% of the code worldwide was the product of generative AI. "Software developers may get additional advantage thanks to the AI advancements, becoming able to work with language or libraries beyond their usual scope," notes Nikhil Badwaik. "However, to achieve this, they need to have a solid foundational education in computer science, which will allow them to swiftly grasp new concepts and choose the appropriate tools for a particular task."
Based on his own experience, Nikhil points out that combining theoretical and practical education is an optimal way to acquire the necessary skills. As an example, he pursued a Master's degree in Computer Science, but then worked as a consultant in several companies before joining Nike, which allowed him to build a base for further professional growth.
Remote Operations and Cloud Computing
The impact of AI-powered tools, as described above, overlays other trends that pre-existed on the market. One of them is the growing adoption of remote work, which was ignited by the pandemic but continued ever since. "Although many companies, especially of enterprise level, attempt to incentivize their employees to return back to offices, the market has changed," notes Nikhil Badwaik. "Many developers have discovered a more productive approach to perform their work, and they will prefer employers, which are able to take this into account." He had to deal with such challenges himself, as he started working at Nike in the position of Technical Product Manager right in 2019, shortly before the onset of the pandemic. He notes that the ability to adapt quickly and maintain a high level of quality when adopting new methods and approaches plays a crucial role.
The current trend for remote work coincides with other technological developments supporting it, such as outsourcing, distributed teams, and cloud computing. The real geographical location steadily loses its significance, as they have opportunities to effectively perform their tasks from anywhere, having access to the necessary computational power. At the same time, a new level of flexibility and adaptability is required to use new opportunities effectively. Nikhil Badwaik mentions that his skills as a Full Stack Software engineer at Nike Inc., as well as his previous companies, such as Prokarma and Horizon Technologies, significantly benefited from the continuous learning and professional development, both on an individual level and as a part of the team. Currently, he is a senior member of IEEE, as well as a member of IAHD (International Association of Honored Developers). IEEE is the world's largest technological professional organization, which unites the engineering and technology community worldwide. For IEEE professional membership, one needs to provide evidence of competence and experience in a given field, such as Engineering or Information Technology. IAHD is a community of expert software developers dedicated to promoting innovation and collaboration. To become a member, a professional needs to fulfill the criteria of their qualification and expertise, as well as provide a recommendation from an existing member. Consequently, participating in these organizations is a testament to his constant strive for professional improvement.
From New Technologies to New Forms of Companies
Emerging technologies, such as those mentioned above, affect not only the process of software development itself but also, as a consequence, the structure of the market and the companies that are a part of it. "There are multiple innovations which make the process of development itself more accessible on the basic level, from no-code apps to outsourcing to generative AI," comments Nikhil Badwaik. "Consequently, in the coming years, even more businesses of smaller scale will emerge, taking the narrower niches and aiming to bring changes and improvements to various aspects of life." He adds that businesses will need to develop new forms of management and operation, which allow them to embrace new technology and use it to their advantage.
To answer that demand, various organizations, from professional associations to investment funds, attempt to create an environment that will support the professional development of a younger generation of professionals and startup creators. In the past years, Nikhil Badwaik participated as an Industry Expert and Judge at the Globee Awards and later at Astra Global; the Globee Awards aims to honor organizations from around the world for their achievements in business and technology, to promote excellence and support innovation in a wide array of fields and industries. The goal of Astra Global is to create a network of investors and growth funds, connecting them with up-and-coming tech startups. Both events encompass a wide array of industries and professional fields, which makes the work of the judges' panel especially demanding, requiring them to have a vision and understanding of the general picture as well as the case of a particular participant. Becoming a Judge and Expert at an event of such scale is a testimony of professional recognition. He also consulted startups, assisting them in optimizing their software technology. Currently, Nikhil Badwaik is working on a monograph on "Integration DevOps into Development Process" to sum up and share their expertise in the industry.
While new technologies may bring challenges for the industry, embracing them is a necessary step for moving forward. The future belongs to companies and professionals who are able to succeed in it, and the career path of Nikhil Badwaik can be seen as an illustrative example in that regard.
