What do folks think about the commoditization of automation as a skill?

Five years ago, if you wanted to automate technology in your business your only options were to either be or hire a software engineer.

Today the landscape is completely different. The barrier to entry for automation is much lower, with builders typically falling into three camps

1️⃣ Glue Builders

Using Zapier, Make, Lovable, Airtable, etc. to string tools together. Fast to learn, intuitive, but quick to hit a wall once the project grows beyond simple automations.

2️⃣ AI-Accelerated Coders

Still building with code in an IDE, deploying on traditional infra and stacks, but using AI to write 99%+ of syntax

3️⃣ Traditional Engineers

Writing most (or at least some) of the code themselves, while using AI for support + speed

The lines between these groups are blurring at a pace that almost feels unimaginable. At Conduit, it’s been exciting to watch non-technical builders take on complex conversational automations that previously weren't possible without lots of custom code.