Senior engineers losing professional identity and motivation as AI automates core technical work

Experienced software engineers (10+ years) are experiencing a crisis of purpose as AI coding tools have shifted their role from building and architecting to prompt engineering and output validation. This creates a loss of technical fulfillment, career stagnation, and existential uncertainty about their future value, driving many toward career abandonment or entrepreneurship. Current solutions (reskilling courses, management tracks) don't address the deeper psychological need for meaningful technical contribution.