Google I/O 2026 made me ask an uncomfortable question: are we still coding, or are we managing builders? (opens in new tab)

This is a submission for the I came into Google I/O 2026 expecting the normal AI announcement cycle. A faster model. A better demo. A few benchmark charts. Someone saying “agentic” at least 40 times. And yes, we got a lot of that. But one thing genuinely stuck with me: Google does not seem to be talking about AI as a better autocomplete anymore. It feels like they are trying to change the shape of development itself. Not: “Here is an AI assistant that helps you write code.” More like: “Here i...