site.btaInternational Expert Says Soft Skills Will Gain Importance for Software Developers

Software developers’ soft skills will become increasingly more important than hard technical skills in their professional development, Patrick Dreisch of the AI safety and research company Anthropic said at an AI conference in Sofia on Wednesday.

Dreisch, who works with the San Francisco-headquartered company's go-to-market team for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and is responsible for strategic AI implementation in business, was a special guest speaker at BASSCOM AI Conference 2026, held at Inter Expo Center in the Bulgarian capital.

Dreisch said that until recently, hard skills such as programming language proficiency and profiling were key for software engineers, but going forward there will be much greater emphasis on soft skills.

He linked this shift to accelerating technological changes and the evolving nature of software development cycles, which require adaptability, the right mindset, and openness to experimenting with new tools. According to him, professionals in the sector should consider how their daily responsibilities may look just six months from now.

Citing data from METR, Dreisch said AI agents are doubling their capabilities every seven months, adding that this pace could potentially shrink to one month by 2027.

Despite rapid advances, Dreisch does not believe software engineers will become unnecessary within the next three years. However, he suggested their roles may evolve from executors to supervisors.

According to Dreisch, software is present in medicine, regulation and critical infrastructure. He pointed out that even if developers' role becomes more supervisory, at some point they will still need to review or verify code. Without that knowledge, it would be a major problem, he added.

Dreisch argued that as software becomes more deeply integrated into critical infrastructure, quality will likely become even more important than sheer volume of tools and developments.

Regarding the future workplace, he did not offer precise predictions but stressed the importance of granting teams greater independence and freedom.

He pointed out that the more clearly processes are outlined and the more autonomy teams are given to experiment, the better they can discover the most effective collaborative solutions themselves.

In the era of AI agents, Dreisch also did not rule out the possibility that a unicorn company valued at over USD 1 billion could one day operate with only a single employee.

Dreisch visited Sofia at the invitation of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM), where he delivered a lecture on software development and security in the age of AI agents.

The conference focused on practical AI applications, including AI-native engineering, organizational implementation, skills development and building AI-driven businesses.