Will AI Make Great Engineers Even Better?

AI is no longer just helping engineers write code. It's reviewing pull requests, generating tests, documenting systems, and increasingly acting as a collaborative engineering teammate. But as AI takes on more of the software development lifecycle, one question becomes more important than ever:What will distinguish great engineers in an AI-first world?In Episode 3 of AI-First Engineering, Jon Robinson, Head of Market Development at TestGrid, sits down with Suneet Malhotra, Senior IEEE Member and independent practitioner-researcher, to explore how AI is reshaping engineering roles, quality engineering, and software development itself. Together, they discuss why the future belongs to builders, how AI is changing the role of QA, the rise of AI agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP), and why human judgment remains critical in an increasingly autonomous engineering landscape. In this episode:• How AI is making experienced engineers dramatically more productive• Why the future role of QA is evolving into that of a "builder"• How AI agents and MCP are transforming software development workflows• Why human expertise is still essential for validating AI-generated work• The challenges of measuring AI quality and building confidence in AI systems• Whether the QA engineer role will still exist five years from now Guest: Suneet Malhotra is a Senior IEEE Member and independent practitioner-researcher in LLM-augmented software testing, with over 20 years of experience leading quality engineering for consumer-scale platforms including Motorola, Tinder, Amazon, Ticketmaster, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Spokeo.Host: Jon Robinson, Head of Market Development, TestGrid.AI-First Engineering is a podcast by TestGrid featuring conversations with engineering and technology leaders shaping the future of AI-driven software delivery, quality engineering, and enterprise innovation.Linkssuneetmalhotra.comgithub.com/SuneetMalhotralinkedin.com/in/suneet-m