How software engineering is changing: an essay challenge

The Pragmatic Engineer has launched an essay competition with a grand prize of $10,000 and additional prizes of $2,500, inviting software engineers to submit essays of 3,000 to 10,000 words on how AI and LLMs are changing software engineering practices. The contest aims to capture first-hand accounts from builders at startups, Big Tech, and other companies, with winning entries to be published in the newsletter.

The pace of change in software engineering is only accelerating, especially since January of this year. This is all to do with the industry-wide adoption of LLMs, AI tooling, and AI infrastructure. At The Pragmatic Engineer, we always want to capture as much of what’s going on as possible at startups, Big Tech, and other businesses, in order to share with subscribers. That’s why we’re launching an essay competition with a chance to win up to $10,000, this week Send us up to 10,000 words on how you see things at your startup or tech company, or at a business you’re connected with. The best entries will be published in the Pragmatic Engineer and win prizes of $2,500, plus one grand prize of $10,000 for the best essay we read. The Pragmatic Engineer reports many developments in tech in our deepdives https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/s/deepdives?ref=blog.pragmaticengineer.com , including how , why https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/inside-anthropic?ref=blog.pragmaticengineer.com building software is changing at Anthropic , how https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/why-ramp-built-inspect?ref=blog.pragmaticengineer.com Ramp built its own in-house coding agent , how https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-uber-uses-ai-for-development?ref=blog.pragmaticengineer.com Uber uses AI for development and what it could mean for the future of software engineering, and much more. Almost every company we talk with currently says that processes which worked fine for years are suddenly pretty outdated. https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-codex-is-built?ref=blog.pragmaticengineer.com Codex is built This pace of change makes it hard to cover the full breadth and diversity of tech in one deepdive per week – especially right now, when engineers are building and using new and better tools in every part of the software development lifecycle. So, we’re launching a writing challenge to encourage software builders to share how things on the ground are changing. We’ll share these cutting-edge reports with readers in future editions of the Pragmatic Engineer. So, tell us what’s new, different, better, and worse in your part of the tech industry since AI entered your workflow What we’re looking for An essay written for software engineers : 3,000 – 10,000 words on one of these topics:- How software engineering is changing at your company, institution, or open source project - The engineering culture at your company, institution, or Open source project in 2026 - How you build software in your company, institution, or open source project - Software engineers turning into AI engineers at your company, institution, or open source project. Basically, how the work is changing First-hand details: Winning essays will include the authors’ personal observations and opinions. Include details about the team and company: Including details about the team and company in the spotlight is important and enriches the essay by painting a more complete picture for readers; what engineering practices are changing, what’s still the same, what about tooling, and processes? Is there any “traditional wisdom” that no longer holds true – or is still true today? It’s not necessary for writers to work at a company/team being written about. Software engineers and “builders” only: We want to hear from folks who build software; meaning that you have built from scratch, pushed to prod, or been paged when your service or someone else’s caused an outage. Basically, if you do this currently, or did it in the past, then your essay is eligible for entry. You don’t have to be a builder right now if you’re still close to those who build software. Individual work. This competition is specifically for individuals, so articles written collectively by teams are not eligible. Of course, outside of this competition, The Pragmatic Engineer always welcomes articles from teams that want to share interesting developments No AI writing allowed. Writing is thinking, and we are interested in your own thoughts and observations, not a sharp, one-sentence observation turned into three paragraphs of blob text by an LLM. Using AI as a research tool is allowed if you’re confident about the accuracy of its output, but all the words must be written by a person. Submitted essays must not be available to read elsewhere before 20 October. The essay has to be purpose-written for this competition and cannot have been published online or in print prior to 20 October 2026 in order to be eligible. After this date, a submitted essay can be published on any company blog, personal blog, or other medium. Prizes The competition has the following prizes: Grand prize: $10,000 and publication in The Pragmatic Engineer following editing , and a Pragmatic Engineer surprise package. For winning entries, we reserve the right to make edits for legal, editorial, style, grammar, and punctuation reasons. Runner-up prize s : $2,500 + sharing an excerpt in The Pragmatic Engineer + a The Pragmatic Engineer surprise package. Focus of the runner up category includes viewpoints from:- Bootstrapped non-VC-funded companies - More “traditional” companies that not digital-first, or which even predate digitalization - AI-native startups founded in 2023 or later which have been using AI tools since day one - Academia, government institutions, and open source projects For quality deepdives: We plan to publish a roundup of essays in the future on topics which contain interesting learnings, and that clearly show great effort on the part of authors. These pieces will receive a The Pragmatic Engineer surprise package. Timeline Midnight, 4 October, PST: deadline for all submissions. 20 October: decision on the prizes. 3 November : expected publication of the Grand Prize winner FAQ Why is AI writing banned from this contest? I want to use AI to write my essay like I do for writing code It’s a rule that you cannot include writing in your essay which was generated by AI. As everyone who reads this newsletter likely knows; there is no shortage of ways to detect AI-written text these days The Pragmatic Newsletter is fully written by humans, and the same applies here. The reason for this hardline stance is that we believe in the value of human thought and experience, as told by people with first-hand knowledge. It’s also about the audience: The “audience” for AI-written code is usually a machine, whereas the writing in Pragmatic Engineer is for humans, by humans. AI produces a statistical average in its output which creates uniform, dull text that’s an inferior reading experience to human writing – at least today it is. Can I publish my essay online after writing it? In order to be eligible for consideration and prizes, an essay cannot be available to read anywhere online or in print before or after it is submitted to this contest. After 20 October 2026, no publication restrictions apply. Can my essay be changed after I send it? For spelling, punctuation, grammar, legal, and editorial reasons, the Pragmatic Engineer reserves the right to edit or amend all writing published on this platform. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/about to get articles like this in your inbox. It's a pretty good read - and the 1 software engineering newsletter https://substack.com/top/technology on Substack.