When many tech companies around the world are laying off their employees due to efficiency gains from AI, Amazon wants Indian students to pursue computer science engineering. The company is offering Rs 2 lakh financial assistance over four years to female engineering students from low-income backgrounds. This program has come at a time when, after doubling its workforce between 2019 and 2021, Amazon has laid off more than 57,000 corporate employees since late 2022, with more than half the cuts coming in October (14,000) and January (16,000).
Amazon says under its Future Engineer program, 500 new scholars will be eligible for financial support in 2026. This scholarship is specifically for female students pursuing B.E. or B.Tech degrees in computer science or allied branches from low-income backgrounds.
Apart from financial support, eligible scholars will also receive a laptop, technical training, mentorship from Amazon engineers, and paid eight-week internship opportunities at Amazon after their second year.
AI leaders warn of job disruption
While Amazon wants students to pursue computer science, AI company executives are increasingly warning that some jobs typically taken up by computer science graduates are under threat due to AI.
Dario Amodei, cofounder of Anthropic, has said that coding—especially routine programming—could be among the first white-collar jobs to be heavily disrupted by AI. He has even suggested that AI models could soon handle most coding tasks in six to 12 months.
“I think coding is going away first, or coding is being done by the AI models first,” Amodei said during Nikhil Kamath’s People by WTF podcast earlier this year.
Logan Kilpatrick, a senior product manager at Google DeepMind, also supports Amodei’s view. In a post on X in March, he suggested that humans may be limited to reviewing code as AI takes over more programming tasks.
However, replying to this, Elon Musk shared a stronger view, suggesting things are moving even faster. “Even code review will swiftly become a thing of the past,” he said, adding that AI could soon handle that responsibility as well. Kilpatrick responded briefly, saying, “I hope.”
Why domain knowledge still matters
Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho, has a simple suggestion for budding software engineers. In a post on X, Vembu argued that while programming remains a foundational skill, it is deep domain knowledge that ultimately delivers value to customers.
According to Vembu, AI tools are already accelerating parts of the software development process, especially early-stage work like prototyping. Teams can now get to a working model much faster than before. However, he stressed that building a finished, reliable product is far more complex. Elements such as reliability, security, compliance, and long-term support still require careful human input and cannot be easily compressed by AI-driven workflows.
So, while AI is definitely changing computer science jobs, it is deep domain knowledge that will ultimately help you navigate the changing landscape.
