TonyBai

Sep 23, 2026 · Industry Insights

Thorsten Ball's 16 Predictions: Code Review, Terminal, Unit Tests Face Extinction in AI Era

Thorsten Ball predicts AI will render code review, unit tests, and terminals obsolete, shift engineer value from coding to problem-solving, make tokens the new compute paradigm, dissolve traditional PM-designer-engineer triads, and challenge the very definition of 'good code' — though the transition will take a generation.