Rethinking Our Engineering Culture in the Age of AI

When we started Origin Spice, we knew technology would be crucial to delivering on our promise of “Curating Global Flavors for Modern Kitchens.” What we didn’t anticipate was how quickly AI would transform not just what we build, but how we build it.

I was listening to a fascinating podcast recently where they discussed how engineering roles are evolving. The speaker mentioned that engineering work falls into three buckets:

1. What should we solve for?
2. How should we solve it?
3. Actually solving it

And here’s the kicker – AI is increasingly handling bucket #3 and even parts of bucket #2. This mirrors what we’ve experienced at Origin Spice in the past year.

Our AI Journey at Origin Spice

When we launched our innovative labeling system with NFC chips for recipe access, the actual coding wasn’t the challenge. Our engineers spent most of their time defining our customers’ problems (stale spices, lack of recipe inspiration) and architecting solutions that would delight them.

The bulk code implementation? Much of it was AI-assisted.

Does this mean our engineering team is less valuable? Absolutely not. In fact, they’re more valuable than ever, but in different ways.

What We’re Learning About Engineers in the AI Era

The podcast speaker mentioned something that resonated with me: “I think what engineering kind of goes to is actually what you wanted engineers to do in the first place.”

At Origin Spice, our most valuable engineers aren’t necessarily those who can write the cleanest code (though that helps). They’re the ones who:

• Deeply understand our business problems
• Can prioritize effectively
• Make sound technical decisions
• Have the mental models to understand systems at a fundamental level
• Possess agency and creativity

That last point is crucial. As the podcast highlighted, “agency” is an undervalued skill. We don’t need engineers who wait to be told what to do – we need builders who identify opportunities and take initiative.

Recommendations for Founders and Product Teams

If you’re building a company or product in 2025, here’s what we’ve learned at Origin Spice:

1. Redefine what engineering excellence means

Look beyond coding skills. Hire for problem-solving ability, systems thinking, and business acumen. Our best hires have been those who could articulate why a feature matters to customers, not just how to implement it.

2. Foster agency throughout your organization

Build a culture where everyone takes ownership. At Origin Spice, we run “Spice Innovation Days,” during which team members can pursue any project they believe adds value, from supply chain optimizations to new blend concepts.

3. Don’t abandon technical depth

While AI handles more coding, deeper technical understanding remains valuable. One engineer’s knowledge of distributed systems helped us design our freshness tracking system to scale globally without performance issues.

4. Balance AI implementation with human creativity

Our most successful features blend AI efficiency with human creativity. Our recipe recommendation algorithm works brilliantly because we combined machine learning with the expertise of professional chefs.

5. Embrace the “crazy things” mindset

As the podcast speaker candidly put it: “If we don’t do crazy things and innovate, we’re going to die.” At Origin Spice, we’ve adopted this as an unofficial motto. It’s why we’re testing AR spice origin tours even though they weren’t in our original roadmap.

The Origin Spice Approach

For us, success isn’t about replacing human creativity with AI – it’s about using AI to elevate what humans do best. Our AR app showing origin stories wasn’t built by engineers writing every line of code. It was created by engineers, designers, and anthropologists collaborating with AI tools to bring farmers’ stories to life.

Does everyone on our team need a computer science degree? Not necessarily. However, they need to understand how systems work, how to solve problems effectively, and most importantly, how to identify which issues are worth solving.

As we continue developing our proprietary blending facility and expanding our farmer partnerships, we’re not just thinking about the spices of tomorrow – we’re thinking about how AI and human ingenuity will blend together to create something truly special.

What’s your experience with AI and engineering? How is it changing your business? Let us know in the comments below!