OpenAI’s new o3 model arrived with little fanfare but quickly set off a surge of conversation in tech circles. Early demonstrations suggest a leap in logical reasoning and code-generation capabilities, far beyond earlier AI tools. If these benchmark results prove accurate, coders may be on the verge of a profound transformation in how they work—an evolution that, while exciting, also raises questions about job displacement and the future of software development.
Many in the industry see o3 as a productivity boon. “These tools drastically improve productivity by significantly reducing the time taken for routine tasks,” says Krishna Prasad Vyakaranam, CTO at Motivity Labs, a part of Magellanic Cloud. “Developing a feature that used to take days can now be completed in minutes. Coders should view this evolution as inevitable and akin to previous technological transitions, such as moving from books to Google and now from Google to advanced AI models.”
Among those intrigued by o3’s performance is Lalitha Duru, VP of CleverTap Labs, who calls it “definitely the biggest leap AI has taken since its inception,” citing its success on benchmarks like ARC-AGI. Though Duru highlights o3’s resource intensity—at times making it costly—she notes that technology often becomes more affordable over time and sees o3 as “a wake-up call signalling the demand for a better class of developers.”
Others emphasise that coders need not fear automation but should adapt, honing the traits that AI cannot replicate. “The capabilities dem onstrated by o3 are undoubtedly impressive and should be seen as a double-edged sword for coders and software developers,” says Atul Rai, co-founder & CEO of Staqu Technologies. He points out that o3’s strongest advantage lies in tackling repetitive tasks. “Rather than fearing obsolescence, coders should embrace this as an opportunity to evolve, leveraging AI tools to augment their capabilities.”
Pramod Gummaraj, founder & CEO of Aprecomm, views o3 as a milestone that melds routine code generation with more advanced reasoning. “The advent of o3 marks a significant milestone, offering a powerful tool that can streamline repetitive programming tasks,” Gummaraj says. Yet he, like many others, sees human insight as the deciding factor. “Developers should see o3 as a partner, one that amplifies productivity but still relies on human intuition, judgment, and innovation to yield truly transformative software.”
A similar theme emerges in discussions about the human qualities AI lacks. “AI models like o3 still can not fully replicate creative intuition, moral reasoning, and the understanding of ambiguous requirements,” says Manish Jha, chief information officer at Addverb. “Coders and software developers should welcome and adopt this change with enthusiasm and curiosity, but also remain aware of how such models may shape traditional roles.”
For Lakshminarasimman Raghavan, GVP of technology at Publicis Sapient, the continuing importance of human oversight cannot be overstated. “While coders will have powerful assistance from such models, a lot depends on the human-in-the-loop—the programmer—to ensure the code they write is part of software that actually creates value.”
Nearly all these industry experts recommend that developers confront o3’s rise by strengthening the abilities no AI can imitate. “AI can only extrapolate from existing data and patterns,” says Vyakaranam. “It cannot replicate the uniquely human capacity to think about social impact or sense what might be controversial.”
