This is not the new normal.
Engineering should be doing the engineering.
Product should be doing product.
DevOps should be providing infra.
If end users want to use a report generator or setup a notification rule that's one thing but duct taping features together never is sustainable.
Every team member has a job to do in the software process. Each speciality can leverage AI to perform faster and better moving the whole process forward. I think everyone can expand outward with what they are able to do enhanced by AI but they need to stay around their core expertise where they are bringing the most value. Things still need to be maintainable and secure.
My mental model of the 'new normal' is end users using AI to get their work done.
So if I re-worded the OP's description and replaced 'internal tools' with 'internal AIs' then this would at least seem like a more reasonable process to me...
> At our startup, engineers don't build features anymore. > They build APIs that internal AIs can connect to. > Most "features" like running an SQL query, sending a push notification when product X is ordered gets built by ops or product folks using those tools.
To me this describes a team of engineers that use AI-capable tools and that are building 'features' for themselves. In the way that us dinosaurs used to write build scripts.
I'm not saying that my mental model is right or wrong, just that working this way seems reasonable if you buy into my model.
Definitely ...
If anything engineers are doing more with AI and aren't limited to just APIs.
They are building more of the UI/UX, Design, Front/Back + API instead of less and meeting/building product's vision.
Supported by Devops.
Every layer of the process will be enhanced by AI so everyone is doing more that our previous process.
I wouldn't limit any layer, enable everyone and every team to do more and be more productive.
Why is the siloing so important do you think? I think with all the use of LLMs now, entire functions or multiple functions can be done by 1 person. Those people can get a lot of task and skill variety in their work.