Why We Will Always Need Developers
Even with coding agents, we need people we can trust to make tricky tradeoff decisions, choices that are a matter of taste and preference for the systems we rely on to serve our customers.
Vibe coding took off in 2025 and went mainstream in 2026. After initial apprehension, developers discovered that the ability to build more complex solutions with less drudgery felt liberating – maybe even intoxicating.
Coding agents have changed the game of software development. This tech compressed the research, design, build, test, deploy cycle so much that it's often easier to "just deploy it and see". It takes little time to build so there is little fear of making "a wrong decision". Letting users try a working app and give feedback serves as user research, proof of concept, and deployment testing rolled in one. Cycles that took 2-3 weeks are now compressed to 1-2 days.
For business people, this means you will find many more software builders to deliver your business application at low cost –– but there's a catch. You must choose your software partner wisely. Hire someone who looks beyond the "quick fix", someone who ensures the app is easy to support, who avoids known pitfalls.
The tiny decisions, the easily overlooked tradeoffs, turn out to be the most consequential. Does there need to be a queue to handle spikes in usage? Should the value of that data field be restricted or free-form? Nitpicky details really matter. So "classical" software design skills are still important, even if execution only takes minutes.
As a developer, less of your time goes into coding but more goes into thinking. How can I make this easier for the user? What could happen if this LLM request fails? Such decisions require judgement and experience based on the scars from support nightmares in past years.
Yes, coding agents (like Codex or Claude Code) will get better over time but as of now, they make some bad choices and you can never provide the full context for the best decision. Inexperienced developers using coding agents can make bad decisions faster, leading to bloated apps with unforeseen problems.
I would compare using coding agents to driving a race car. The race car driver is essential even though 99% of what makes the car go fast is the machinery. Steering, accelerating and braking – small decisions – will determine who crosses the finish line first. Hire the right driver, so your project doesn't go down in flames.
"Way back" in January, I thought coding agents spelled the end of software development. Now, going into August, I realize software development just got interesting!