> The vast majority of software engineering hours that are actually paid are for maintenance, and this is where AI is likely to come in like a tornado.

I have the exact, almost completely opposite opinion. Greenfield is where AI going to shine.

Maintenance is riddled with "gotcha's", business context, and legacy issues that were all handled and negotiated over outside of the development workflow.

By contrast, AI can pretty easily generate a new file based on some form of input.