Rethinking the 10x Engineer: From Developer to Force Multiplier in the Age of AI
What it really means to be a 10x engineer today
The term “10x engineer” has been floating around the tech industry for decades. An almost mythical figure believed to be ten times more productive than their peers. But in 2025, with the rise of AI tools and a shift toward collaborative engineering cultures, it’s time to rethink what being “10x” really means.
The Origins of the 10x Myth
The roots of the 10x engineer concept go back to the 1960s. A seminal 1968 study showed that the best programmers were up to 10 times more productive than the worst. Fred Brooks cited this in The Mythical Man-Month and proposed a “surgical team” model: one rockstar engineer supported by a team of helpers. While not widely adopted, this seeded the myth of the lone coding genius.
Over time, stories of engineering legends like John Carmack and Linus Torvalds reinforced the idea that some developers could do the work of ten. In startup culture, the quest for “10x engineers” became an obsession.
From Productive to Problematic
By the 2010s, the 10x engineer became a controversial term. A now-infamous 2019 Twitter thread tried to define the 10x engineer as a reclusive, meeting-averse code machine who preferred working at night and avoided social interaction. The internet responded with memes and mockery. Most in the industry agreed: if someone delivers value while alienating their team, are they really 10x or just toxic?
Even Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer) has warned that some so-called 10x engineers are actually “code sprinters,” “info hoarders,” or “credit stealers”, people whose impact appears big but leaves a trail of unmaintainable code, burned-out teammates, or fragile systems. As he put it, “‘10x developer’ behavior can actually be undetected toxic behavior under a different label.”
What a True 10x Engineer Really Is
The real 10x engineer isn’t a lone wolf, it’s someone who multiplies the effectiveness of the entire team. They’re the kind of person who makes five engineers 2x better by mentoring, sharing knowledge, making smart architectural decisions, and unblocking problems that stall momentum.
Michael Lopp (Rands in Repose) described this archetype as “the Wolf”, a deeply competent individual who moves outside the traditional structure and consistently works on what matters most. They don’t ask for permission. They just deliver results that move the company forward.
In my own view, a 10x engineer is someone who:
Makes critical architecture decisions that avoid years of future pain
Spotlights high-impact problems and simplifies solutions
Helps others level up by mentoring and sharing deep context
Prevents bad code and poor product decisions before they happen
Their real superpower isn’t writing code faster. It’s raising the bar for everyone around them and making better decisions earlier.
One real-world example: a team struggles with a flaky, high-priority system for months. Then a single experienced engineer takes a few days, gets to the root of the problem, and ships a fix that stabilizes everything. That one action might not be 10x lines of code, but it’s 10x in value.
The 10x Engineer in the Age of AI
AI is changing the game. Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and automated CI/CD systems mean that writing boilerplate code, debugging, or even architecting systems can be partly automated. So what does being 10x mean when AI is your copilot?
Andrew Ng puts it well: “10x engineers don’t write code 10 times faster. Instead, they make architecture decisions that result in dramatically better downstream impact.” In the AI era, the 10x engineer is someone who knows what to build, how to build it efficiently, and when to use AI to shortcut the grunt work.
This doesn’t mean AI replaces engineers. Instead, it elevates those who can orchestrate AI tools effectively. A great engineer might now be:
2x faster thanks to AI-assisted coding
2x better at identifying high-leverage work
2x more impactful by unblocking others faster
That’s your 10x, through smart leverage, not raw output.
A Shift in What We Value
We’re entering an era where being a 10x engineer is less about velocity and more about multiplier effects. The best engineers are those who:
Reduce the risk of future technical debt
Unify the team around a clear technical vision
Drive simplicity over complexity
Make high-quality decisions faster than others
In short, they aren’t just engineers. They’re accelerators, people who leave their entire environment better than they found it.
Conclusion
The 10x engineer of the past was a mythical coder who single-handedly built empires. But in today’s world and especially in the age of AI the most valuable engineers are the ones who lift others, simplify decisions, and guide teams toward impact. They are humble, collaborative, and deeply technical but also strategic, communicative, and proactive.
You won’t find them working solo at 3 a.m. in the dark corner of the office. You’ll find them in code reviews, pairing with juniors, designing resilient systems, and showing up to the hard conversations. They’re not just building software. They’re building leverage.
And that’s what makes them truly 10x.