AWS CEO Matt Garman says software engineers remain important to Amazon.
Garman said at Amazon’s “What’s Next with AWS” event on Tuesday that Amazon continues to hire developers even as AI tools reshape the way it works.
“I can tell you that we’re hiring as many software developers as we’ve ever hired within Amazon,” he said. “And I actually see that demand really accelerating.”
Garman said Amazon plans to hire 11,000 software engineering interns in 2026. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the numbers are on par with last year.
Garman dismissed the idea that AI will disrupt software engineering jobs, but said the role itself is changing as new tools automate some of the work.
“The job is going to change a little bit,” he said. “Being an expert at writing Java code snippets will probably be less valuable in the future than it was a few years ago.”
Instead, they focused on broader skills, such as building applications and solving customer problems. Technical knowledge remains important, especially when working with customers who use cloud services, he added.
His comments come as some technology leaders warn that advances in AI coding tools could disrupt the industry.
Since late 2025, companies like Anthropic have released tools that can generate code in minutes. Claude Code creator Boris Charney said in February that the title “software engineer” could eventually “go away.” Martin Casado, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, also said the field is “being destroyed as a discipline.”
Garman had previously rejected the more aggressive views. In August, he said the idea of replacing junior employees with AI was “one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.”
Amazon’s hiring of software development interns comes as the company continues to make cuts to some of its workforce, including layoffs affecting about 16,000 employees earlier this year. The company said the layoffs were not primarily caused by AI.
“Amazon remains committed to our internship program as an important means for finding the next generation of leaders and builders,” an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. “Companywide, we will have more than 11,000 interns and early career full-time SDEs joining us this year around the world.”