The fear of AI taking jobs isn’t unfounded when 41% of employers plan to reduce their workforce as AI automates various tasks. Get advice from hiring managers on how to future-proof your career in APIs by learning how to use AI to level up instead of letting it push you out.
Sources like the Tech Layoff Tracker create a scary narrative with a daily layoff count, but they don’t tell the full story. AI taking jobs doesn’t necessarily mean AI replacing a human completely. More often, it means taking over certain tasks.
We talked to three Postman hiring managers about how AI tools and artificial intelligence in general are changing the job market so we could get their insights and advice for building a career path in the API industry.
More AI means more APIs
In the 2024 State of API report, 57% of orgs said that AI had increased the number of APIs they manage. AI is only as good as the APIs behind it, so APIs are a great place to focus if you’re looking for the types of jobs that will help you stay ahead in an AI-driven market.
So while you may feel like you’re competing with robots for jobs, API-related roles are actually growing 34% annually. We talked to hiring managers for Solutions Engineering, Product Management, and Developer Advocacy roles, but there are a variety of opportunities in this space.
Stan Williams, Solutions Engineer Leader at Postman, says that when he considers candidates, he’s looking for people who understand the state of AI adoption at large. “I’m interested in Solutions Engineers who understand the trends in how AI is used and how it’s being applied to building and consuming APIs. They need to know what makes an API 'AI-ready,” says Stan.
AI-ready APIs require human input
Humans and AI process information differently. A person can read documentation and fill in the gaps, but AI systems rely on humans to provide that essential context. It’s time to start designing APIs to be both human and machine-readable.
Developers working with APIs can work alongside AI to:
- help AI infer relationships, purposes, and required parameters by using consistent naming patterns
- provide predictability for AI with standardized response formats, consistent error handling, etc.
- give AI the context it needs to learn about the system by creating a centralized place for detailed documentation
- help AI discover APIs with clear metadata and discoverable endpoints
For more guidance, check out our Developer’s Guide to AI-Ready APIs
Show how you use AI to amplify your work, not replace it
The key to future-proofing your career in APIs is learning how to demonstrate how AI complements your skills. “The best candidates show how they use AI as a partner—not a crutch,” says Preetham Mavinakunte, Head of Product, API Operations at Postman. Your judgment is what sets you apart from AI alone, so be prepared to talk through examples when your experience combined with AI helped you work more efficiently.
Stan agrees, noting that many candidates don’t make it far in interviews because they rely too heavily on AI. “The last round of hiring resulted in dozens of AI-written code solutions for our technical screen—all of which failed. And most of the candidates didn’t even know they’d failed the exercise,” says Stan. AI can help with code, but if you’re not validating AI output, you’re not showing off what makes you (the human with earned knowledge) a valuable asset to the team.
Plus, AI can’t fake human intuition. People can adapt their communication based on the person they’re talking to, the time of the year, or even based on recent events. “Humans can react to facial expressions and market conditions and many more factors that can’t (and shouldn’t) be replicated by AI,” says Stan.
Build skills AI can’t fake
AI is great at handling repetitive tasks and LLMs can power a decent chatbot, but there are some abilities AI can’t imitate.
Decision-making and empathy
AI lacks contextual awareness and the decision-making skills people build through real-world experiences. “AI can’t fake good judgment, ownership, or empathy,” says Preetham, “AI can’t make tough calls in uncertain situations, align stakeholders, or build trust with customers.”
Preetham says that he looks for Product Managers that can understand the full picture (business, user, and technical) and still make the right call under pressure. Stan takes human skills into account when hiring Solutions Engineers, too. “SEs are crucial partners in our sales motion at Postman, and that role requires the ability to understand how an opportunity or call is progressing and pivoting when needed. AI can’t tell whether a message is hitting the mark or is driving a prospect away. SEs can,” says Stan.
Problem-solving and teamwork
If you’ve ever gotten into an argument with ChatGPT about unverified information, nonsensical answers, or hallucinations, you know that AI isn’t great at solving problems. Part of the issue is that AI presents output as established fact and it doesn’t always have the capacity to acknowledge errors.
“AI is notorious for poor troubleshooting of existing code (whether AI-written or not) largely because mistakes can go undetected,” says Stan, “ A great human knows when they’ve made a mistake and can always fix it, even if that means bringing in other folks from the company to address the situation.”
Passion and talent
Unlike people, AI cannot be enthusiastic or exceptional. AI cannot be so excited about the work that it does its own research or builds knowledge unprompted. Emotion and energy are things AI can’t imitate.
“Being able to have a level of social and emotional intelligence in order to respond with empathy and compassion could never be a skill or trait that AI could fake,” says Danny Dainton, Senior Developer Advocate at Postman.
Preetham explains that while AI helps accelerate aspects of Product Management work, it can’t replace people’s ability to dive deep into the product and tell a story. “Writing, structuring ideas, and influencing teams are still make-or-break skills,” says Preetham.
Current trends will result in the loss of tribal knowledge and the dumbing-down of engineers,” says Stan. Dedication to your craft and continuously upskilling to work with and without AI are what will keep you relevant in the job market.
Is AI taking jobs? These hiring managers don’t think so.
AI and APIs go together, but that doesn’t mean AI is going to replace human workers in the API industry.
“The technical-knowledge side is less than half of a Solution Engineer’s job in my opinion,” says Stan, “AI implementations will likely become more and more specialized, while the human strength will always be the ability to be competent at many things at once.”
Preetham says that while AI won’t replace Product Managers, “PMs who don’t learn to work with AI might be replaced by those who do.” AI will handle more grunt work (docs, specs, analysis) so that PMs have more time to focus on strategy and outcomes.
And lastly—no one wants to hang out with AI at the office happy hour. “That spark or a level of genuine likability can only come from a human,” explains Danny, “We’re so diverse and our lived experiences shape who we are.”
The AI revolution doesn’t mean AI taking over, especially in the API and software development industry. However, it does increase the need for knowledgeable humans who are dedicated to learning about new technologies and figuring out when to rely on artificial intelligence versus human intelligence.