From Hackers to PowerPoint Warriors: The Decline of Engineering Culture
Planted March 5, 2025
Categories: Opinion
Tags: software
, consultancy
Intro
Innovation. A word that dominates discussions in the software industry. But today, I want to focus on something different: the human factor.
Greed, a Feature of The System
A software consultancy charges its client around a million euros to develop the MVP of a project—a web and mobile application consisting of just three components—over a period of six months. The catch? The scope of work is so simple that I estimate it could be completed in just three weeks. There’s no need for UI/UX design, authentication, user management, subscription handling, or any other complex functionality. Most of it is just integrating existing solutions already used in other applications developed for the client.
And yet, this kind of bloated project timeline and pricing is not an anomaly. It’s a feature of the system.
The Dehumanization of Engineering
Consultancies and even internal engineers often end up dehumanizing each other—not out of necessity, but as a tactic to claim a larger share of the rewards or climb the corporate ladder. This fosters a culture where engineers are forced to develop a different kind of skill: not technical mastery, but the ability to generate persuasive nonsense in polished PowerPoint slides.
This is not an unfortunate side effect; it’s an accepted norm.
I first encountered the idea of software development as a social activity in Your Code as a Crime Scene. It struck me as an obvious truth—software development is a human-driven process, like any other endeavor undertaken by social beings. But here’s the problem: when this human factor is left unchecked or becomes toxic, it can actively harm the development process rather than enhance it.
The AI Mirage and the Crisis of Trust
The industry is buzzing with excitement about a future where AI replaces software engineers entirely. The dream is simple: AI gets smart enough to solve all problems engineers currently tackle, and does so at a fraction of the cost.
At this stage, I’m not interested in debating whether that future is feasible. What concerns me is why so many are rooting for it. Why has the industry lost so much trust in engineers?
Like any dysfunctional system, the problem isn’t isolated to a single flaw. You can’t point at one issue—whether it’s inflated timelines, bureaucratic inefficiencies, or misleading presentations—and expect fixing it will heal everything. Dysfunction feeds on itself, creating a cycle of corruption.
A Broken Feedback Loop
Much like a failing government, once certain behaviors—mismanagement, inflated claims, and performative competition—become normalized, they generate a feedback loop that pulls more people into the problem. The longer this cycle continues, the harder it becomes to break free from it.
We see the evidence everywhere. From technical decisions that prioritize control over progress, as described in We Are Destroying Software, to the endless drama unfolding in open-source communities. The signs are clear: mutual understanding is eroding, replaced by mistrust and performative competition.
The software industry is no longer primarily about nurturing innovation for the sake of advancement. Instead, it’s caught in a cycle of repetition, reinforcing power structures and profit motives. And that, more than any technical debt, is what’s corrupting everything.
Where Do We Go from Here?
So what’s the solution? The first step is recognizing that this isn’t just an engineering problem—it’s a systemic one. Real innovation won’t come from AI replacing engineers or from the latest hyped-up framework. It will come from rebuilding trust and reshaping the incentives that drive the industry.
More than anything, we need to rekindle the hacker spirit—an ethos built on curiosity, ingenuity, and a relentless desire to push boundaries, not for profit, but for the sheer joy of problem-solving and discovery. The hacker culture has always been about breaking barriers, questioning norms, and building better systems—not just more profitable ones. If the software industry wants to escape its self-destructive cycle, it must embrace the mindset of those who see code as a means of empowerment, not exploitation. Only then can we return to an engineering culture that values real progress over performative success.