Software Development in the Age of AI: Meet Akhil Manikanta Kanapala

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

What first inspired you to pursue a career in Software Development, and how did your path lead you to GoDaddy?

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / September 4, 2026 / Since childhood, I've been fascinated by computers. During summer breaks, I would spend hours glued to the computer, playing games and exploring everything I could. Over time, my curiosity shifted from simply using computers to wondering how these small machines could do so many different things.

Foto: Accesswire

That curiosity had a big influence on me early on. Even as a child, I knew I wanted to become an Engineer and work closely with computers. Programming felt like the natural next step because it gave me a way to understand how software works and eventually build things of my own. That interest led me to pursue Computer Science during my bachelor's degree. Over time, Software Development became the perfect career path for me. It allowed me to turn my childhood curiosity into real-world problem solving and building.

My path to GoDaddy happened a little unexpectedly, but in the best way. I was exploring my next career move and came across a role at GoDaddy that matched my experience and interests. What made it even more meaningful is that I had already been a GoDaddy customer, and my first domain purchases were through GoDaddy.

Joining the company felt like a full-circle moment: going from using GoDaddy as a customer to contributing to the technology behind it.

Which emerging technologies or patterns do you think will matter most in the next 2 years?

AI is definitely going to continue shaping how we build software and how teams work. I think one of the biggest skills going forward will be AI fluency and knowing how to use AI tools effectively, ask the right questions, provide the right context, manage tokens and prompts, and validate the output with strong engineering judgment.

Prompt engineering is part of that, but I think it goes beyond just writing prompts. It is about understanding how to work with AI as a collaborator. The better we get at giving clear context and breaking down problems, the more value we can get from these tools.

I also think the idea of forward-deployed engineering will become more important. Engineers will need to work closer to real business and customer problems, understand the full picture, and use AI to move faster across different parts of the stack. In the past, roles like Frontend, Backend, DevOps, QA, and Platform Engineering were often more clearly separated. Those areas will still matter, but AI is already extending the boundaries of each role. A Frontend Engineer can understand backend patterns faster, a Backend Engineer can contribute more confidently to infrastructure, and teams can prototype, test, and ship ideas more quickly.

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