As AI reshapes software engineering, the CEO of a buzzy vibe-coding startup is betting that developers will become more valuable, not less.
During a live Q&A with Business Insider, Emergent CEO and cofounder Mukund Jha said he doesn’t see AI as a competitor to developers. He said he expects demand for software to “exponentially increase,” and the need for developers, designers, and product builders to also grow.
Emergent is an AI-app building platform that launched in 2025. It announced on Wednesday that it raised $130 million in Series C funding, raising its valuation to $1.5 billion. That’s a steep increase from its $300 million valuation six months ago.
“We see a new class of builders coming online, and our belief is that the need for automation, the need for software generation, is going to rise,” Jha said during his conversation with Business Insider’s Dan DeFrancesco.
Even if developer jobs aren’t going away in the near future, they’re evolving rapidly — as are employers’ expectations. Many executives have told Business Insider that AI is changing the skills they prioritize in employees.
Jha said he is looking for candidates who are “really, really curious about problem solving.” He also said he wants to see workers who are “hard-charging, hungry, and looking for impact.”
In the AI era, employees are often expected to wear more hats, as traditional roles merge. At Emergent, “our designers actually write code; our engineers now do designing; our PMs are able to ship a feature themselves,” said Jha.
‘Jumping on that bandwagon’
As the role of software engineers evolves, Jha said aspiring developers should focus on becoming experts at using AI.
“Use AI as much as possible,” Jha said, adding that “jumping on that bandwagon is really, really important.”
Jha said workers who use AI “really well” have increased their capabilities tenfold. However, that doesn’t mean developers should abandon traditional degrees or expect AI to solve every problem, he said. Learning problem-solving and collaboration skills are still crucial, he said.
“That’s what I feel like colleges are about,” Jha said.
Jha, who started programming with his twin cofounder at age 12 and later dropped out of a PhD program, said that technical disciplines teach people how to solve problems. Learning how to solve and decode is what’s important, he said, rather than the specific engineering track. These abilities will equip aspiring engineers to contribute as the technology rapidly evolves.
“We are barely scratching the surface of what is going to happen with AI,” Jha said.
