A former Microsoft software engineer says artificial intelligence is rapidly collapsing the economics of traditional software teams, setting the stage for solo freelance developers to become some of the highest earners in tech.
In a new post on X, Ujjwal Chadha says AI is making programming cheaper and faster, allowing individual developers to replace entire agencies by delivering finished products on their own.
Chadha explains that companies are no longer paying for headcount or process, but for speed and execution, which fundamentally changes how software gets built.
“Freelance developers will be the next wave of top earners. Programming is becoming cheap. Companies are laying off devs due to AI. The era of the bloated 10-person engineering team is ending.”
He lays out what he sees as the economic math behind the shift, contrasting the old agency-driven model with an AI-augmented solo workflow.
“The old way: a client hires an agency, $50,000 budget, three-month timeline, five people in meetings. Output: a basic MVP. The future way: the client hires you, the AI-augmented freelancer, $10,000 budget, two-week timeline, zero meetings. Output: a polished product.”
According to Chadha, the implication is that individual developers who can design, prompt and deploy on their own effectively become businesses unto themselves.
“The brutal truth is companies are realizing they don’t need headcount. They need execution. If you can architect, prompt and deploy singlehandedly, you are an agency. Don’t look for a job. Look for a problem to solve. Become an army of one.”
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