POV: How to Triple Your Salary in 1 Year as a Software Engineer

SUMMARY

Bgo, a former NASA and Fortune 500 developer now running an AI B2B consulting firm, argues that mastering communication—with humans and AI—is the essential skill for mid-to-senior software engineers to thrive in 2026 amid coding's commoditization.

STATEMENTS

Coding has become increasingly commoditized as AI tools like cloud code enable non-technical founders to build software applications without deep expertise.
The world does not operate solely on merit; effective communication is crucial for promotions, client acquisition, and demonstrating value beyond technical skills.
For mid-to-senior engineers, the highest leverage activity is investing time in communication rather than further technical upskilling, assuming core coding proficiency is already in place.
Communication underpins all business skills, including sales, marketing, and negotiation, making it the foundational ability for career advancement and entrepreneurship.
Programming itself is a form of machine communication, but AI agents now act as intermediaries, reducing the uniqueness of traditional coding abilities.
Opportunities in professional and business contexts arise through human interactions, requiring engineers to cross paths and convey value effectively to others.
Layoffs and hiring challenges stem from AI enabling one person to handle the workload of multiple roles, emphasizing the need for interpersonal and prompting skills.
Introversion or extroversion is irrelevant; software engineers must practice placing themselves in social environments to unlock opportunities locked behind conversations.
Non-technical individuals often reach high positions, like CTOs, due to superior communication, outpacing technically skilled but inarticulate engineers.
Prioritizing communication leads to time, financial, and location freedom by enabling engineers to create opportunities, captivate audiences, and articulate their inherent value.

IDEAS

AI's rise commoditizes coding, shifting software engineers' unique value from technical execution to effective interaction with both machines and people.
Every professional opportunity, past or future, originates from human connections, underscoring that isolation behind a computer screen limits success.
Prompting AI agents represents a new layer of machine communication, making engineers who excel at it indispensable in an efficient, AI-augmented workflow.
The misconception of a merit-based world ignores how promotions and deals hinge on articulating results, not just achieving them.
Non-technical founders entering tech via no-code tools highlight that barriers to entry are lowering, forcing engineers to differentiate through relational skills.
Communication minimizes the gap between technical expertise and business impact, explaining why some engineers advance faster than their more skilled peers.
Opportunities are "locked behind conversations," meaning engineers must proactively enter social spaces to access career and entrepreneurial paths.
Practicing communication builds comfort in describing value without jargon, essential for sales, negotiations, and leadership roles.
AI-driven efficiency explains rising layoffs and junior hiring difficulties, as one senior with strong prompting can replace multiple juniors.
Investing in communication over redundant coding skills guarantees future-proof success for experienced engineers aiming for independence.

INSIGHTS

In an AI era, engineering success pivots from solitary coding to symbiotic human-AI dialogue, redefining professional leverage as relational fluency.
Merit alone falters without articulation; true advancement emerges from bridging technical prowess with persuasive human exchange.
Commoditized skills demand elevated moats—communication serves as the unbreakable barrier, enabling value extraction from any interaction.
Opportunities manifest through deliberate exposure, transforming passive expertise into active networks that propel career trajectories.
Machine-human communication duality positions engineers as orchestrators, not mere coders, in a workflow where efficiency amplifies interpersonal impact.
Transcending introversion myths, communication practice unlocks universal access to wealth and freedom, contingent on consistent, jargon-free engagement.

QUOTES

"If you’re a software engineer and you don’t know how to communicate, you are not going to have a fun time."
"The world does not operate solely on merit... effective communication is crucial for promotions, client acquisition, and demonstrating value."
"Communication now is twofold: your ability in being able to communicate with these AI agents... as well as being able to communicate with other human beings."
"Every single opportunity out there in the world, especially for a software engineer right now is going to be locked behind another conversation that you're going to have with a human being."
"Practice makes perfect... you need to become more comfortable with going out, putting yourself in social environments."

HABITS

Engage in daily practice of social interactions to build comfort in articulating value, regardless of introversion or extroversion.
Minimize technical jargon during conversations to ensure clear communication with non-technical stakeholders.
Prioritize entering environments with potential opportunities, such as networking events or business settings, to cross paths with influential people.
Dedicate time to refining prompting skills for AI tools, treating it as essential communication practice.
Schedule regular physical activities like a five-mile run to maintain mental clarity while reflecting on communication strategies.

FACTS

Bgo advanced to manager in three years as a software engineer before leaving corporate life to build a seven-figure AI B2B consulting firm in Los Angeles.
AI tools enable one person to perform the work of five, contributing to widespread layoffs and challenges for junior engineers in securing jobs.
Non-technical founders are increasingly launching technical software businesses using accessible tools like cloud code.
Programming languages like Python use English-based syntax to facilitate human-machine communication, avoiding direct binary coding.
Many software engineers transitioning to business ownership cite discomfort with people skills as their primary objection to sales and marketing.

REFERENCES

CodeToCEO workshop and masterclass for ideating, validating, and pressure-testing business ideas.
Free 55-page guide on finding, validating, and scaling a first business idea for developers.
Bgo's YouTube channel for daily videos on building a 10-figure business strategy.

HOW TO APPLY

Assess your current communication baseline by recording yourself explaining a technical project to a non-expert, then identify jargon-heavy areas for simplification.
Practice prompting AI agents daily with complex tasks, iterating on inputs to refine clarity and achieve precise outputs, building machine-communication fluency.
Attend one networking event or social gathering per week, focusing on initiating conversations about shared interests rather than pitching yourself immediately.
Role-play sales scenarios with a peer or mentor, emphasizing value articulation without technical details, to desensitize discomfort in human interactions.
Track opportunities missed due to poor communication by journaling interactions, then role-rehearse alternative phrasings to convert future encounters into gains.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Master communication with humans and AI to future-proof your engineering career and triple salary potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Shift focus from advanced coding to daily communication drills, ensuring mid-level engineers leverage existing skills for exponential growth.
Embrace AI as a communication tool by honing prompting, turning potential job threats into productivity multipliers.
Proactively seek human interactions in professional settings to unlock hidden opportunities inaccessible through remote work alone.
Dismantle the "merit-only" myth by practicing value conveyance, accelerating promotions and entrepreneurial ventures.
For seniors, prioritize social exposure over isolation to build the relational moat that sustains long-term success.

MEMO

In the sun-drenched streets of Los Angeles, Bgo jogs along his daily five-mile route, his voice steady through a camera lens as he delivers a stark message to software engineers worldwide: the code you write may soon be obsolete, but the words you speak will define your destiny. Once a NASA and Fortune 500 developer who climbed to management in just three years before ditching the corporate grind, Bgo now helms a thriving AI B2B consulting firm. He has collaborated with countless local businesses, transforming his technical background into a seven-figure enterprise without venture capital or viral luck. His advice cuts through the noise of 2026's tech landscape: amid AI's relentless march, communication—both with machines and people—emerges as the singular skill guaranteeing success.

The commoditization of coding, Bgo explains, is no longer a distant threat but an unfolding reality. Tools like cloud code and AI agents empower non-technical founders to launch sophisticated applications, eroding the exclusivity of engineering expertise. Layoffs ripple through the industry as one proficient individual supplants teams, leaving juniors scrambling for entry points and even seniors vulnerable. Yet Bgo sees opportunity in this disruption. Programming, at its core, has always been communication—translating human intent into machine instructions via languages like Python, which mimic English for accessibility. Now, with AI as an intermediary, engineers must master prompting to direct these digital intermediaries efficiently, blending technical acumen with conversational precision.

But Bgo's vision extends beyond silicon synapses to the human realm, where true leverage lies. The world, he asserts, defies the meritocracy myth peddled in tech lore; promotions, clients, and breakthroughs stem not just from results but from articulating them compellingly. Engineers who retreat to remote isolation, heads down in code, forfeit paths to leadership—witness non-technical executives ascending to CTO roles through sheer relational prowess. Every opportunity, Bgo emphasizes, hides behind a conversation, demanding engineers shed jargon, embrace social discomfort, and captivate with clear value propositions. For mid-to-senior professionals, this shift represents the highest-return investment, propelling them toward financial independence and innovation that shapes humanity's technological future.

Practice, Bgo insists, is the unromantic key to mastery. He has coached dozens of engineers from salaried drudgery to business ownership, confronting their shared hurdle: aversion to "people skills." Whether introvert or extrovert, success demands deliberate exposure—networking, role-playing, and jargon-free dialogue—to unlock doors once sealed by silence. Juniors should balance this with technical foundations, but for veterans, communication forges the moat against obsolescence. As AI redefines workflows, engineers who communicate effectively will not merely survive; they will lead, innovate, and perhaps steer the very advancements that could alter humanity's course for centuries.

Bgo's manifesto resonates as a call to action in an era of flux. By prioritizing interpersonal and AI fluency over redundant upskilling, software engineers can triple salaries, build empires, and claim the freedom—temporal, financial, locational—that eludes the isolated coder. His firm belief: engineers are humanity's next guardians of technology; their communicative evolution will chart our shared tomorrow.