Thomas Dohmke, the CEO of GitHub, has emphasized the importance of teaching children how to code, especially in light of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) that are making software development more accessible. In a recent interview with the EO Podcast, Dohmke argued that programming should be taught in schools, alongside traditional subjects like math, physics, and geography.
“I firmly believe that every child should learn to code,” Dohmke stated. “We should really teach them programming in school, just like we teach them literacy and other core subjects.”
Having been a programmer since the 1990s, Dohmke sees the current age of AI-driven software development as one of the most exciting in engineering. He believes that AI tools are lowering the barriers to entry in programming, allowing newcomers to create software with less technical knowledge.
“The ease of getting started in software development is unprecedented now. With tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, and similar AI platforms, you can simply enter a prompt and be guided in building a webpage, an app, or even a game in Python,” Dohmke explained.
This shift, he said, is opening up new opportunities for smaller teams. He noted that AI’s accessibility is empowering even small startups, with teams as small as five or even one person, to tackle projects that were once only feasible for much larger organizations. “Some startups, with minimal staff, are already thinking they can become multi-million or even billion-dollar companies by utilizing AI agents,” he added.
While some worry that AI will lead to job losses by increasing the productivity of small teams, Dohmke remains optimistic. In a blog post from January, he acknowledged that such concerns are understandable but also pointed out that “developers have learned to introduce new capabilities in fields that didn’t exist before.”
For experienced programmers, Dohmke encourages a mindset of continuous learning. “You have to keep practicing, keep training, and keep learning. There’s always something new to learn,” he concluded.
