You’ve probably seen the headlines by now. Vibe coding tools that promise “anyone can build apps now.” Tech leaders claiming they’ll need fewer developers thanks to AI. The conclusion they’re drawing is pretty clear: software development is a dying field.

I don’t buy it. And more importantly, that’s not what I’m seeing in the field.

What I’m seeing is this: vibe coding and AI-assisted coding are changing the software development landscape. The skills that matter are evolving. And if you’re a senior developer, you lead a team, or you’re still learning (aren’t we all?), you need to understand what that evolution means.

Your role is evolving…

When you vibe code, your role shifts from writing every line to being a tech lead for a team of AI junior developers. You guide intent, review output, make architectural decisions, and catch what AI misses.

It’s a different workflow, and you get to decide your role in that development process. You describe what you want in natural language, and AI generates your code, augments your code, and debugs your code. For POCs, experiments, and one-off tasks where you’re not shipping to production, it can be an amazing time saver. But when working on production applications, you need to think about what you’re missing when not writing the code yourself.

Your code review responsibilities are expanding, too: you’re checking if code works and helping your team use AI effectively. Set clear expectations for what passes review, provide guidance on effective prompts and tools, and ensure the code meets your quality bar.

…but your SDLC doesn’t have to!

Vibe coding can automate parts of your development process – maybe an agent performs a few steps or handles some repetitive tasks. But your quality, security, and stability standards are non-negotiable. AI assistance doesn’t mean you now get to YOLO code into production without reviews, tests, and all those other sound SDLC practices. 

You remain the critical checkpoint for shipping quality software. AI has a valuable place in the process: Google’s DORA report found it works best for reducing toil and acting as an additional set of eyes on your code. Use it to remove tedious work and analyze code from different angles, but keep your standards in place.

What the research shows

A recent study from Model Evaluation & Threat Research found that vibe coding can actually slow down experienced developers by up to 19%. What’s even more interesting is that they thought they were moving faster. The headlines would have you believe AI makes everyone much more productive, but the reality is more nuanced.

Here’s what I’m seeing in practice: junior developers are vibe coding to build functional applications quickly, and that’s valuable. But experienced developers – those who understand the codebase and architectural patterns – use AI more flexibly in their development process. They know what questions to ask, what trade-offs matter, and when to push back on the AI’s design choices. This also matches what JetBrains found in their 2024 developer survey: experienced developers are more likely to treat AI as a junior colleague they guide and review, while newer developers rely on it more like a teacher.

The key is knowing when and how to use AI. Mandate it for everything, and you’ll get slower work with more bugs. Use it strategically, and you’ll improve both speed and quality.

What this means for you

First, know when to use AI and when not to. Spend some time understanding what works, what doesn’t, where it makes you faster, and where it slows you down. A good guideline I’ve been seeing is vibe coding’s 80/20 rule. Vibe coding excels at getting that first functional version stood up (the 80%). But for the hard problems in the last mile – security, performance, edge cases – you’ll want to step in (the 20%).

So, get specific when communicating with AI models. Question the agent’s logic. Show it existing applications or code patterns you want it to emulate. Think like a tech lead providing direction to someone brand new to software development.

If you’re a team leader, remember that different developers will use AI in different ways. Work with each person to find what’s most effective for them, and give them space to learn. Set clear expectations for code review, define which security checks are non-negotiable, and establish when human sign-off is required before vibe-coded work ships.

The bottom line

Vibe coding is powerful, and it’s changing the conversation. But the conversation isn’t “how many developers do we need?” It’s “what does development work look like now?”

What we know for sure is this: it looks different. It requires different skills. And it absolutely still requires developers.

The headlines will keep coming. Ignore them. Focus on building the skills that matter in this new paradigm. The role is evolving, and that’s more interesting than replacement ever could be.