>people actually are saying if you keep coding by hand you will be left behind

"People" say a lot of things, I can only reply to comments said here, not to vague words by anonymous people from the ether.

>my CEO said it publicly to all engineers

Good think your CEO speaks for everyone in the industry.

I think what he means is that he's afraid for his company being beaten by competitors who will overtake you if they use AI but you don't.