The Real Bottleneck in Software Development: Beyond the Code
As technology advances, many developers envision a future where artificial intelligence handles every line of code instantly. While AI tools like Copilot and Cursor indeed accelerate code autocompletion and reduce typing time, the core challenges in software development often lie far beyond the keyboard.
I’ve spent over three and a half years working in backend development within a mid-sized SaaS company, with aspirations of reaching a senior full-stack role this year. Despite my efforts to enhance coding efficiency, I’ve come to realize: the speed of writing code is rarely the main obstacle.
AI can be a powerful assistant—speeding up coding, catching errors, and automating repetitive tasks. However, the real hurdles often include:
- Coordinating and aligning multiple stakeholders across different teams and discussions.
- Untangling conflicting Jira tickets accumulated over previous sprints.
- Adjusting project scope mid-flight as new data influences decisions.
- Navigating the slow pace of code review cycles, awaiting key engineers’ feedback.
- Performing extensive refactoring to fix flaky integration tests or unblock critical workflows.
And that’s not to mention the endless Notion documentation that tends to be comprehensive yet vague—saying everything, yet nothing.
Recently, I spent two hours coding on a task that had been stuck in planning for two weeks, only to see it “reprioritized” twice and then languish in a review queue for five more days. Approval for a feature flag ownership become a bottleneck, delaying progress even further.
Meanwhile, I’ve seen demos of AI agents capable of refactoring entire codebases or renaming variables in seconds. Impressive, yes—but would those tools help clarify who owns a specific authentication process across 14 Slack threads? Or convince stakeholders that scattered, half-baked documentation isn’t a substitute for a clear, actionable spec?
At this stage, I don’t just want AI to write code faster—I want it to act as a product manager, orchestrating communication, priorities, and alignment seamlessly.
Is anyone else feeling this pain? Or perhaps I just need a trail run and a shot of espresso to reset?
