There’s a new kind of engineer emerging—and they don’t spend much time writing code.
Welcome to the age of vibe coding, a movement catalyzed by tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Sonnet, and Groq, where large language models (LLMs) aren’t just autocompleting code—they’re building entire applications based on natural-language prompts. The term, popularized by Andrej Karpathy, refers to a kind of trust fall with generative AI: coders give in to the "vibes," generate freely, and iterate more like designers than traditional software developers.
But beneath the meme-worthy name is a serious transformation of software engineering roles, workflows, and hiring practices.
95% AI-Generated—and Proud of It
In a recent survey of Y Combinator founders, nearly a quarter reported that over 95% of their codebase was generated by AI. These aren’t non-technical founders, either. Many have deep technical backgrounds. Some come from math and physics. Others have learned to ship product without ever mastering the syntax of JavaScript or understanding recursion. Instead, they excel in something else: taste.
Taste, it turns out, is becoming the most valuable engineering skill.
Taste Is the New Talent
Founders repeatedly described how AI tools flattened the playing field—turning everyone into a “10x engineer,” but with a catch: if everyone can write code, the differentiator becomes knowing what to build and how to shape a product users actually want. One described the shift this way:
“I don’t write code much. I just think and review.”
In vibe coding, engineers are more like product architects or ethnographers, working from specs and continuously refining LLM-generated drafts. Debugging and judgment become more important than typing speed. In fact, debugging remains one of the few areas where humans outperform LLMs. As of now, models are still notoriously brittle when asked to trace subtle bugs or manage architectural consistency at scale.
Rules, Not Recipes
Best practices have already started forming. In vibe workflows, engineers use structured rules inside Cursor or Windsurf to guide the AI’s behavior: avoid duplicate code, don’t change architecture unless told to, don’t touch unrelated files. Some teams operate in “YOLO mode,” letting the AI deploy directly to production, while others add friction—approving changes step-by-step.
Models like Claude 3.5 Sonnet and DeepSeek R1 are leading choices for their strong reasoning and tool-calling capabilities. Cursor’s main limitation is needing the user to point it to the right files—whereas Windsurf crawls and understands the entire codebase autonomously. With each iteration, tools are evolving from assistants to agents.
Zero-to-One vs. One-to-Scale
The industry is starting to separate into two types of engineering needs:
Zero to One — Speed is everything. Vibe coders dominate here. They build MVPs, find product-market fit, and move fast using commodity AI infrastructure.
One to N — Scaling requires robustness. Legacy systems, compliance, infrastructure… these still need deep CS knowledge. For now.
This divide mirrors historical patterns. Facebook got off the ground with PHP but later had to create its own compiler (HipHop) to scale. Twitter ran on Rails until it hit the Fail Whale. Vibe coding gets you there fast—but may not keep you there.
Hiring Hasn’t Caught Up
Despite the shift, most engineering hiring practices haven’t changed. Many employers are still whiteboarding, assessing sorting algorithms, and testing for classical CS knowledge. That’s not what vibe coders are doing all day. And it raises a challenge: how do you assess someone’s ability to orchestrate AI agents, write effective specs, or debug AI hallucinations?
There’s no Leetcode for that—yet.
A New Definition of Engineer
In the vibe era, the best engineers aren’t defined by what they type, but by what they guide. They architect workflows, write natural-language specs, manage AI output, and still make critical judgment calls when things go off the rails.
It’s a shift from syntax to sense, from grinding out lines of code to designing elegant systems of prompts, rules, and reviews.
And the companies that embrace this shift early—those who rethink hiring, team structure, and product velocity—may find they don’t need an army of engineers. They just need a few who know how to vibe.
So here’s what I’m wondering—if code no longer defines the coder, what does? If vibe coding really is the future, then maybe the better question is:
Would you rather write the code, or design the experience?
I’d love to hear how you’re navigating this shift.
#VibeCoding #AItools #Cursor #Windsurf #ClaudeAI #FutureOfWork #AIDevelopment #TechTopics
Beyond the Newsletter: Your Personal Guide to Seamless IT Support
As I delve into the fascinating realms of technology and science for our newsletter, I can't help but acknowledge the crucial role of seamless IT networks, efficient desktop environments, and effective cloud systems. This brings to light an important aspect of my work that I am proud to share with you all. Besides curating engaging content, I personally offer a range of IT services tailored to your unique needs. Be it solid desktop support, robust network solutions, or skilled cloud administration, I'm here to ensure you conquer your technological challenges with ease and confidence. My expertise is yours to command. Contact me at michael@conceptualtech.com.
About Tech Topics
Tech Topics is a newsletter with a focus on contemporary challenges and innovations in the workplace and the broader world of technology. Produced by Boston-based Conceptual Technology (http://www.conceptualtech.com), the articles explore various aspects of professional life, including workplace dynamics, evolving technological trends, job satisfaction, diversity and discrimination issues, and cybersecurity challenges. These themes reflect a keen interest in understanding and navigating the complexities of modern work environments and the ever-changing landscape of technology.
Tech Topics offers a multi-faceted view of the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of technology, work, and life. It prompts readers to think critically about how they interact with technology, both as professionals and as individuals. The publication encourages a holistic approach to understanding these challenges, emphasizing the need for balance, inclusivity, and sustainability in our rapidly changing world. As we navigate this landscape, the insights provided by these articles can serve as valuable guides in our quest to harmonize technology with the human experience.
