Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: Spotify says its top engineers no longer coding since December, Honk AI does it all in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
Elon Musk says coding as a profession could largely disappear by the end of 2026. While that prediction from the world’s richest man may sound a bit dramatic, the reality already seems to be inching closer. Tech companies are automating workflows across the board, but coding is clearly at the top of the list. Anthropic, Google and Microsoft are increasingly relying on AI to write complex software, and now Spotify has joined them. The company says its top engineers haven’t written a single line of code since December 2025, with its internal Honk AI system handling much of the work.
During its fourth-quarter earnings call, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Soderstrom revealed that the company’s top engineers “have not written a single line of code since December.” The comment came as Spotify detailed how artificial intelligence is now deeply embedded in its development pipeline.
Honk AI is writing all the code for Spotify
Gustav explained that at the centre of Spotify’s AI-led transformation is an internal system called Honk AI. This AI tool is built on Claude Code and is integrated with Slack-based “ChatOps” to automate build pipelines. This AI tool allows engineers to handle bug fixes, feature additions and even code deployment in real time. In short, instead of manually typing out code, engineers of Spotify are now instructing the AI to perform tasks, and they only review and approve the output.
“As a concrete example, an engineer at Spotify on their morning commute from Slack on their cell phone can tell Claude to fix a bug or add a new feature to the iOS app,” Gustav explained while describing how the AI improves productivity. “And once Claude finishes that work, the engineer then gets a new version of the app pushed to them on Slack on their phone, so that they can merge it to production — all before they even arrive at the office.”
Spotify AI is speeding up development
According to Spotify, this shift to AI has significantly accelerated development. In 2025 alone, the company shipped more than 50 new features and changes to its streaming app. In early 2026, it rolled out AI-powered Prompted Playlists, Page Match for audiobooks and About This Song, all launched within weeks of each other.
According to Gustav, the scale and speed of these releases would not have been possible without AI supporting engineers.
But AI is not replacing engineers
While AI may be doing much of the coding, Spotify insists this does not mean engineers are no longer involved. Instead, their role is evolving. Rather than writing repetitive code, they are overseeing AI-generated output, focusing on architecture, product decisions and higher-level problem-solving.
Honk handles execution. Humans handle judgment.
In short, the workspace for software engineers in Spotify is changing, much like what we are seeing across other tech companies experimenting with AI-driven development.
And Spotify believes this is only the beginning. “We foresee this not being the end of the line in terms of AI development, just the beginning,” said Gustav.
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