Depends on who is hiring.

I'm in the role you are describing. I can't code, but I'm good at troubleshooting and if required I can read code.

I would much prefer to work along someone who spent highschool tinkering with game mods than someone with a CS degree, as troubleshooting requires a specific skillset that is developed better by breaking and fixing things than by learning the fundamentals of how computers work or best practices for coding.

That said, if you wanna work for an OEM doing actual chip design or engineering and stuff, you're prolly gonna need that degree.

Cyber security

There is a distinct possibility that when people like the guy you were talking to "retire" or get forced out, these corps will hire you (a person without the degree but with the passion to do the job). In pretty much all cases you should assume that they will be taking advantage of you in any way they can, including by looking to use your much cheaper labor to fill the holes the other guy left when they retired.

They will pay you a fraction of what they paid him regardless of your skill. They will avoid any and all training so they don't have to increase your pay. They will try to force you to use AI rather than building skills you will need to progress in a career like this. And when you give pushback they will force you out either by outright firing you or by making things so miserable you abandon your job. They will continue to do this to anyone they can get on the hook. Probably even after the bubble pops (using local models instead). They don't want knowlegable humans because those people can ask for what they want and will advocate for it. Those people know what they are worth. They want patsies.

It's not a dead end pipe dream but you need to know what to expect. I have been in the industry for about a decade and saw it evolve in the recent years. The way I see it now the developer's job is completely different than it was before. Many corporations (or at least these I worked for) try to embrace AI as much as possible and think it will take over many domains but usually it boils down to generating more code. It's expected from me to deliver more so most days I generate stuff just like any developer in the company and that doesn't require much skill. But when the shit hits the fan (and it does constantly with so much "vibe coding") my expertise is necessary as I am able to pinpoint issues, quickly investigate and ensure the hole is actually filled (and not covered). But from day to day work I think we've lost the most fun part (coding) while turning up all the bullshit (more meetings, shitty documentation, more code reviews where some devs don't even self-review). Project managers I had the displeasure to work for were the biggest AI embracers, using it to generate superfluous and bloated plans, docs and acceptance criteria which are unnecessarily verbose, filled with errors, misleading info and straight up garbage. And now devs need to untagle all this mess.

Tl;dr - I vibe for work and code for passion. I hope this passion will keep me employable.

I wish you good luck in your journey.