Linear CEO: Don't expect AI to take over engineering; code agents are just increasing bandwidth.

CryptoWorld News reports that Linear CEO Karri Saarinen stated that agentic coding (a programming approach involving AI agents in planning, modifying code, debugging, and submitting) has become quite common. Linear data shows that most paid workspaces have installed code agents, and related activity has increased over fivefold in just a few months. Just Linear’s cloud-based code agents fix over 1,000 issues per month and are growing rapidly. Saarinen believes that although the capabilities of agents are improving, few people privately think that agents can write 100% of the code, and very few real companies run large-scale independent agent clusters. Engineers still need to provide direction and judgment, usually managing a few local agents and using a small number of cloud agents for trivial fixes. He summarizes AI’s impact on programming as “increased bandwidth”; tedious problems are now easier to solve, but truly difficult issues still require deep understanding and judgment. At the same time, he points out that AI will not diminish the value of planning; teams still need to decide priorities, shorten planning cycles, and leave more room for experimentation.