Senior Engineers at Spotify Rely on AI Tools Over Direct Code Writing

A long-foreseen confrontation between intelligent machines and human programmers no longer seems theoretical. Initially considered a distant possibility automation nibbling at the edges of software development it now appears that some of the world’s most influential technology firms are witnessing the evolution of this idea. 

With artificial intelligence systems maturing from experimental assistants to autonomous collaborators, the concept of writing code is being re-evaluated. As a result of the accelerating automation and bold predictions of the future of technical work, Spotify has made one of the most apparent signals to date that this shift is not just conceptual but operational as well. 

Since December, Spotify’s co-CEO Gustav Söderström has stated that none of the company’s best developers have written a single line of code. This comes despite repeated warnings from industry figures that coding may lose relevance as a hands-on craft. 

At the same time that he makes these remarks, Spotify is expanding its artificial intelligence-driven features such as Prompted Playlists, Page Match for audiobooks, and About This Song—while simultaneously embedding artificial intelligence directly into its engineering process. 

Elon Musk has further predicted that by the year 2026, programming as a profession will likely largely disappear.

The broader industry trajectory suggests that such forecasts are indicative of a tangible shift despite the dramatic sounding forecasts.

Companies such as Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to develop and refine complex software. Spotify appears to be part of this movement, with its internal “Honk AI” platform reportedly facilitating significant portions of the development process. 

As part of Spotify’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Söderström stressed the importance of AI within Spotify’s technical pipeline, pointing out that the company’s top engineers have moved away from directly writing code and are now supervising, guiding, and shaping the outputs of intelligent systems. 

During the discussion, Spotify executives elaborated on how artificial intelligence is deeply ingrained in Spotify’s engineering operations, making the implications of the shift more apparent.

As part of the fourth quarter earnings discussion, Söderström indicated that the company’s most experienced developers have shifted away from manual coding to directing and supervising artificial intelligence-based systems to perform much of the technical work. This disclosure was accompanied by a statement highlighting how automation is expediting development across various departments. 

Spotify released over 50 new features and updates to its streaming platform throughout the year 2025, reflecting what it referred to as a significant improvement in product velocity. In addition to AI-powered Prompted Playlists, Page Match audiobooks, and About This Song, the company has recently launched features that demonstrate the company’s growing reliance on machine learning to provide personalization and contextualization to users. 

In addition to consumer-facing tools, Spotify has undergone an in-house engineering overhaul. At the core of its overhaul, Spotify has created a platform known as Honk that is based on the Claude Cod

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