From Writing Code to Orchestrating Intelligence with Raja Subramanian

In this episode of Software People Stories – AI and Me, I catch up with Raja Subramanian to explore how AI is changing his world as a developer, consultant and software practitioner. AI and the developer One of Raja’s biggest AI use cases is legacy code refactoring. What was once risky and time-consuming can now be done much faster, allowing him to move legacy systems closer to the clean, maintainable code that developers have always aspired to build. But for Raja, the bigger change is how AI separates thinking from coding. Instead of spending all his energy on the mechanical act of writing functions and passing parameters, he can focus on architecture, design and domain thinking while AI does much of the implementation. He describes himself increasingly as the thinker and navigator, with multiple AI agents helping execute the work. Human judgment remains critical Raja doesn't believe AI should make decisions blindly. Whether it is code, business decisions or personal matters, he sees AI as a consulting partner that provides options, while the human remains responsible for judgment. Even when AI writes code, Raja reviews it, challenges its design and guides it towards better abstractions. Building for India We also talk about Raja’s vision for the future of AI. He expects smaller, local LLMs to become increasingly accessible and sees an opportunity for India to build affordable technology for its own people. His philosophy is particularly compelling: We don't necessarily have to build everything from scratch. We can use what exists and make it better. Projects such as his MyBeacon platform, which uses AI to help students break down complex physics problems, are examples of that approach. Rapid Fire AI tool he loves: Claude and Qwen 2.5 What he will never delegate: Human judgment and private matters For Raja, the opportunity with AI isn't simply about writing more code. It is about thinking better, building better and using technology to make life better. Raja can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/raja-subramanian-kamakshi-iyer-87aa7a54/