I'm a Gen Z Microsoft engineer. AI doesn't always save me time, but it's still made my job easier.
· Business Insider
Navya Jammalamadaka
- Navya Jammalamadaka joined Microsoft in 2024 as a software engineer.
- She said AI tools have become central to her job and made some tasks easier.
- The Gen Zer shared her top advice for using AI and breaking into the tech industry.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Navya Jammalamadaka, a 27-year-old software engineer at Microsoft who lives in Redmond, Washington. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
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I'm still fairly early in my career, but I've seen software engineering roles change a lot.
I used to go to work and code for five to six hours a day without the assistance of an AI tool. Now, my job is more like being the architect — guiding AI to write the code while I design the system.
At Microsoft, there's definitely been a push to adopt AI. My AI usage picked up around the beginning of last year when a lot of tools were made available internally. I spent the first half of 2025 focused on experimenting with AI and learning what it could do, and the second half of the year incorporating it into my workflows, like using AI to review code.
GitHub Copilot has become my go-to tool for coding suggestions and debugging. My work still gets reviewed by a senior engineer, but AI has been really helpful.
I broke into Big Tech 2 years ago
My journey to Microsoft began in 2023, when I decided to take a shot at the dream that everybody in my industry seems to have at some point: working in Big Tech.
At the time, I was working as a software engineer at a consulting firm in Connecticut. While I was applying for Big Tech roles, the founder of a smaller tech firm reached out about a software engineer position in San Francisco that seemed really cool. I hadn't heard back from most of my Big Tech applications, so I decided to pursue the job. I eventually accepted an offer, moved to San Francisco, and started the role in January 2024.
I was generally happy with my role, but I hadn't given up on my Big Tech dream. I began hearing back from several Big Tech applications I'd submitted in prior months — many before I'd started my new job. I moved forward with interviews at Apple, Meta, and Tesla while continuing to apply elsewhere.
That February, I applied to a software engineering role at Microsoft. I had a referral from a fellow New York University alum I'd connected with on LinkedIn. I landed an interview for the role, and the process moved quickly. After an interview with the hiring manager, I learned within a day that I'd be moving forward. I then had four more interviews, and within a couple of weeks, I received and accepted an offer.
The hybrid role required me to work from the Seattle office, so I had to leave San Francisco — a city I really liked and would have preferred to stay in. But I felt the opportunity was worth the move, so I relocated and started the role in May 2024.
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How I use AI to help manage engineering pressure
Using AI tools has reduced the time I spend on tasks like navigating large codebases and writing boilerplate code. But for me, the benefits of AI are less about time savings. That's because using AI well still requires a lot of judgment — like reviewing suggestions carefully and knowing when to trust it and when not to. It doesn't make me feel like I'm just doing the same work faster; it allows me to focus my energy on higher-level problem solving.
Fortunately, I haven't suffered from "AI fatigue" — or burnout from heavy AI use — as some engineers have. But I know many engineers across the tech industry, including those early in their careers, feel extra pressure to meet deadlines now.
I think AI can help ease some of that pressure by speeding up tasks like debugging and understanding code. That doesn't mean work won't still be tiring, but it can help make things feel more manageable.
One of the ways AI has been most useful is in helping me understand large Microsoft codebases that have been around for more than a decade. As an engineer who was new to the scale of Microsoft's systems, they were initially intimidating. But after asking AI enough questions, I was able to better understand the code.
My advice for young job seekers
I know people have questions about the future of software engineering roles, but I think human engineers are still very much needed. No matter how much you train AI, it's difficult for it to have the full context of what you're trying to accomplish.
While AI has been super helpful, it's still been important for me to have the support and guidance of more senior engineers who've worked at Microsoft for a long time.
One piece of advice I have for young job seekers is to connect with as many people as possible on LinkedIn. I've found it helpful to apply for a job and then reach out to people at the company to let them know I've applied and why I'm interested. I think this can help land interviews.
I'd also recommend optimizing your LinkedIn profile. When a recruiter clicks on it, they might spend just a few seconds reviewing it. Make sure you have a portfolio section with your best projects highlighted. The goal is to make them think: "Oh yeah, this person is doing something cool."
Lastly, I think it's important for aspiring software engineers to remember that the role is changing quickly. You may have learned traditional coding in college without the assistance of AI and been judged on your traditional coding skills during job interviews. Those skills are valuable, but if your employer expects you to use AI, you'll want to be prepared for that.
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