What should you learn? | Kunal Kushwaha

Which skills will matter most for software engineers as AI takes on more of the coding? Kunal Kushwaha joins The Merge to discuss how developers can stay relevant, what beginners should learn, and where experienced engineers can bring the most value. Kunal shares how contributing to Kubernetes helped him build his career, how he got into developer education, and what he’s learned from running hackathons through WeMakeDevs. We discuss why communication, technical fundamentals, and understanding what users need deserve as much attention as the latest coding tools. We also debate how much engineers should trust AI-generated code. When agents can write and review a pull request, what should the human still check? And who takes responsibility when something breaks? In this episode: • Building experience through open source before landing your first job • Using AI to learn without losing your understanding of the code • Developing product judgment and stronger problem-solving skills • What successful hackathon teams do differently • Reviewing AI-generated code and understanding the risks of a change • Why Kunal recommends learning to run LLMs locally • Practical advice for junior and experienced software engineers Kunal Kushwaha is the founder of WeMakeDevs, a CNCF Ambassador, and a GitHub Star. Explore WeMakeDevs and its hackathons: https://www.wemakedevs.org/ Learn more about CodeRabbit: https://www.coderabbit.ai/ What are you spending more time learning as AI changes your workflow? Share your experience in the comments, and subscribe to The Merge for more conversations with people building software. #SoftwareEngineering #KunalKushwaha #TheMerge