From web developer to software developer
A career change with AI in view: what carries over, what to build, and how AI is changing both jobs.
Can a web developer become a software developer?
It is a move the US Department of Labor's occupational database recognizes: O*NET lists software developers as one of the five occupations it rates most closely related to web developers, from what people in both jobs do, know and are called. Of the skills the new job rates important, you already work at or above its level in active learning and complex problem solving. The biggest step up is in technology design, systems evaluation and systems analysis. BLS says software developers typically need a bachelor's degree to enter.
Both jobs, side by sideYour skills, comparedStart free: lesson 1
Both jobs, side by side
Published measures only, each from its own source. We do not blend them into a score.
| Measure | Web developer | Software developer |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs outlook, 2025 to 2035 | up 3.8% | up 10.2% |
| Openings a year | 5,300 | 95,300 |
| Median pay, 2025 | $92,650 | $135,980 |
| Typical education to enter | Bachelor's degree | Bachelor's degree |
| Experience in a related job | None | None |
| On-the-job training | None | None |
| How people use AI on this work | 45% working with AI, 55% handing tasks over | 39% working with AI, 61% handing tasks over |
| How much of the work AI can assist (0 to 1) | 0.35 | 0.28 |
What these do not mean: the outlook, pay, education and training are the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' ten year projection and worker characteristics, revised every year, and say nothing about any one employer or person. How people use AI comes from Anthropic's Economic Index and describes people who already use one AI assistant. Microsoft Research rates how much AI can assist the work; “Our metrics should not be misconstrued or misrepresented as measuring the ability of AI to replace jobs.”
What you bring
Skills the new job rates important where O*NET rates your current job at or above the level it needs.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
O*NET level in your job 3.6, needed in the new job 3.6 (of 7); importance there 3.5 (of 5).
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
O*NET level in your job 3.6, needed in the new job 3.5 (of 7); importance there 3.4 (of 5).
What to build
Skills the new job rates important and needs at a level 0.5 or more higher than your current job (on O*NET's scale of 0 to 7), biggest step first.
Technology Design
Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
O*NET level in your job 2.4, needed in the new job 3.6 (of 7); importance there 3.4 (of 5).
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
O*NET level in your job 3.3, needed in the new job 4.1 (of 7); importance there 3.4 (of 5).
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
O*NET level in your job 3.4, needed in the new job 3.9 (of 7); importance there 3.5 (of 5).
Where AI already shows up in the new job
Core tasks of the work, from O*NET, that appear in real AI use. Arrive able to direct AI on these and check what it produces.
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
- Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
- Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
What to learn first for the move
The first AI skills for the new job, in order. Each is taught in GAGE's AI literacy program, Certified AI Practitioner: Workplace Foundations.
1.Review and test code from AI assistants before it ships
Taught in Module 4, Practical AI Workflow Design and Prompt Engineering; Module 6, AI in the Workplace and Team Leadership
2.Give AI coding agents tight permissions and watch what they do
Taught in Module 9, Agentic AI and Workforce Integration; Module 10, AI Security Fundamentals
3.Design against prompt injection and data leaks in AI features
Taught in Module 10, AI Security Fundamentals
Show a new employer you can do it
Changing careers means proving yourself to someone who has not seen your work. At GAGE you explain each idea back in your own words and it is graded against the lesson, so your record shows what you understood. An employer can check it with one link.
Other ways into software developer
Going the other way? From software developer to web developer.
Questions
- Can a web developer become a software developer?
- It is a move the US Department of Labor's occupational database recognizes: O*NET lists software developers as one of the five occupations it rates most closely related to web developers, from what people in both jobs do, know and are called. Of the skills the new job rates important, you already work at or above its level in active learning and complex problem solving. The biggest step up is in technology design, systems evaluation and systems analysis. BLS says software developers typically need a bachelor's degree to enter.
- Is a software developer safer from AI than a web developer?
- No published measure ranks jobs by safety, and we do not blend the measures into one. Through 2035, BLS projects software developers to grow 10.2 percent, and web developers to grow 3.8 percent. On how much of the work AI can assist, Microsoft Research rates software developer 0.28 and web developer 0.35 out of 1, which its authors say is not a measure of job loss. In both jobs, the person who can direct AI and check its work is the one a team keeps.
- What should I learn first to move from web developer to software developer?
- Review and test code from AI assistants before it ships; Give AI coding agents tight permissions and watch what they do; Design against prompt injection and data leaks in AI features. Those are the first AI skills for the new job, and GAGE teaches each of them in its AI literacy program. The first lesson is free.
How this move was chosen, and sources
O*NET lists software developers as one of the five occupations it rates most closely related to web developers (number 3 in its order). We publish a move only when O*NET places it among the ten most related and both jobs have a page here, and we keep O*NET's order. A skill is compared when the new job rates it 3 or more for importance (of 5); it is a step up at a level 0.5 or more higher (of 7); it carries over when your current job is rated at or above the level needed. Ratings O*NET marks as low precision are left out.
- National Center for O*NET Development, for the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, O*NET 31.0 Database: Related Occupations, O*NET 31.0, CC BY 4.0. Read 2026-09-27.
- National Center for O*NET Development, for the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, O*NET 31.0 Database: Essential Skills, Transferable Skills and Content Model Reference, O*NET 31.0, CC BY 4.0. Read 2026-09-27.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Employment Projections, Table 1.2: Occupational projections, 2025 to 35, and worker characteristics, 2025, 2025 to 2035 projections, Public domain. Read 2026-09-25.
- Anthropic, Anthropic Economic Index, sixth release (claude_ai, monthly aggregates), release_2026_06_26, CC BY. Read 2026-09-25.
- Microsoft Research (Tomlinson, Jaffe, Wang, Counts, Suri), Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations (AI applicability scores), v1.1, CC BY 4.0. Read 2026-09-25.
- This page includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. GAGE has modified all or some of this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
- Occupation codes 15-1254 and 15-1252. The comparison, grouping and plain language on this page are GAGE's own.