Dr. Cat Hicks on the Psychology of Software Teams

Dr. Cat Hicks discusses how AI can create identity threat for software engineers whose professional confidence is closely tied to deep expertise in a particular technology or codebase, potentially causing anxiety about safety, belonging, and relevance. Drawing on research through her consulting company Catharsis, she identifies organizational trust as a central issue in AI adoption, including confidence in review processes, team standards, output quality, and whether employees’ concerns will be heard. She argues that leaders can reduce uncertainty and repair trust by establishing clear structures, expectations, accountability, and fairness around AI use. Hicks also encourages developers to build more durable professional identities than mastery of a single language or historical context, emphasizing that AI’s arrival creates substantial opportunities for continued learning.

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