i feel like engineering knowledge matters less and less when it comes to building great software products.

you don't necessarily need to know how to solve a technical problem anymore. you just need to understand what you're trying to achieve.

most of the time, a good frontier model can translate "make search faster and improve the UX" into the same technical decisions an experienced engineer would make.

engineering experience still helps, especially with logical reasoning and systems thinking. but i think product understanding, taste, and communication skills are becoming far more important.