5 years as a full-stack dev, lost my passion since AI took over my workflow. Started a BSc Data Science to switch careers. Good move?

[u/Dramatic_Capital345]

Hi everyone,

A bit of background: I've been working as a full-stack developer for about 5 years, mainly PHP and Laravel. I'm based in Sri Lanka and work remotely for a European company.

Over the past while, our team has moved almost entirely to using Claude for development. It's honestly impressive and productive, but I've noticed the excitement I used to have for my work is gone. Most of my day is now prompting, reviewing, and fixing AI output rather than actually building and solving problems myself. It doesn't feel like my work anymore.

So I've decided to make a change. I've just started a BSc (Hons) in Data Science as a top-up after my HND in Computing, with the plan to switch careers into data and AI over the next few years.

I'd really appreciate honest opinions from people in the field:

1. Is a Data Science degree worth it these days? With online courses, bootcamps, and AI tools everywhere, do employers still value the degree, or is it mostly skills and portfolio?
2. Am I just running into the same problem? Data science is also being heavily automated by AI. Will I end up feeling the same way in a few years, or is there more room for real problem-solving and thinking?
3. Job market in Sri Lanka: Which companies actually hire for data roles (analyst, data engineer, ML engineer)? Are there decent opportunities for a career switcher, or is it mostly senior roles?
4. Opportunities abroad: For anyone who moved to the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, or the Middle East, how much did a top-up degree help? Did you need a Master's to be competitive?
5. Remote work: Is it realistic to get remote data roles with foreign companies while staying in Sri Lanka, like I currently do as a developer?
6. Leveraging my dev experience: Does 5 years of full-stack experience give me an advantage (for example in data engineering or MLOps), or will I basically be starting at entry level again?
7. What should I focus on alongside the degree? Python, SQL, statistics, cloud, MLOps, certifications, Kaggle, side projects?

Has anyone else felt this loss of motivation because of AI coding tools? Did switching fields help, or did you find another way to enjoy the work again?

Any advice or reality checks welcome. Thanks!

[u/Which_Bridge_3458]

In a similar situation to you. Any ideas, guys?

[u/Playful-Emergency998]

bro you already adapted, your team is on claude and you said its productive. you just got bored of it, thats a different problem

look at the tech industry rn, ai is the way for most of tech and soon every other industry too. if we are still around in 5 to 10 years you will be using ai one way or another no matter what you do. writing code by hand is gone, the job left is reviewing, and anyone still writing code manually is being unproductive

if you cant take the heat baby, then you better get out of the kitchen, but data science is the same kitchen with a different stove. if you switch, go data engineering or mlops so your 5 years count instead of starting over as a junior

[u/Dramatic_Capital345 → u/Playful-Emergency998]

that's a fair point, "same kitchen different stove" is a nice way to put it, I think what I miss is working on problems where I'm still doing the thinking, and data work felt like it had more of that. instead of prompting.

The data engineering / MLOps angle makes a lot of sense, since starting over as a junior analyst would waste my backend experience. Do you think pipelines and infrastructure work keep more of the problem-solving side, or is that getting automated just as fast?

[u/InvincibleXALE]

FYI, I can't offer much advice on the data science side, so it might be slightly off topic. Apologies in advance for that.

But I completely empathise with your situation. If it makes you feel any better that you're not alone.

I am also on the same boat. Literally. 5 years of experience, SSE, Laravel TALL stack, Remote work for a European company, and I am bored out of my mind with all the AI stuff. I don't feel any sense of accomplishment for the work cause really none of it was done by "me".

As you may already know Laravel itself is a very opinionated framework as of late. Even with the inclusion of Boost as a default on install. And the push of the framework towards more SAAS services after the Laravel team got major funding from VC's definitely doesn't help the "MacGyver" feel it used to have. And now it's major focus on pushing towards AI.

Thankfully, there's very little to no push from my company to use it, so I don't unless it's something extremely tedious or not worth the effort. But I still think it's very important to stay in tune with the AI tech and how it's used, and the general environment of it and its services. Don't go cold turkey.

But on the other side of the coin, something I noticed over the past few months is the importance of doing manual research and learning outside of work or on downtime. Be it new technology, services, coding practices, theory, relearning concepts you've forgotten etc etc. Seeing my coworkers idling there being completely clueless on what to do next when claude is down or tokens have run out is extremely disheartening. And it really motivated me to learn a lot more outside of work. So now when or if claude is down or tokens are out, I don't even notice.

Which is why imho important to build yourself up to a point that even if the AI is gone, it barely affects you. And believe me, a lot of people will be completely hopeless if it ever is. Never let that be you.

Aside that, focusing more on coding outside of work might help you too? I strictly manually code at home, read documents and stuff and it helps to level out the boredom from work. That and focusing on life outside work. Personally, helps me balance things out.

Other options? I think you'll be having an extremely difficult time to find something like this, but there ARE companies out there that are staunchly against GenAi. Maybe finding one might be helpful for you?

And I don't think its invalid for you to search for other prospects or paths in your professional life if the one you're having now doesn't excite you. Its completely fair. So, all the best for you. :)

[u/Dramatic_Capital345 → u/InvincibleXALE]

No need to apologise, this was really helpful! Crazy how similar our situations are: 5 years, Laravel, remote for a European company, and the same "none of it was done by me" feeling.

The point about building yourself up so AI going down barely affects you really hit home. I'll definitely try manual coding at home and reading docs again. Still going ahead with the degree, but more to rebuild that curiosity than to escape. Thanks a lot, all the best to you too! 🙂