How vibe coding will help accelerate the next wave of innovation, to a point

From idea to impact, why tangibility matters

If you've ever pitched an idea to your stakeholders, you will likely have encountered pushback as key stakeholders struggle to visualise the concept. Theory is one thing, but ideas often fail to gain traction until your stakeholders see the idea in action. It’s only when they have something tangible that they can believe in it.

For years, getting an idea off the page meant engaging with an external development partner who would translate your abstract vision into a working software - a highly skilled, time-consuming and relatively costly activity.

AI has changed that.

Innovation, in the right hands

Today, generative AI and low-code/no-code platforms are giving innovators a new kind of power: the ability to translate raw ideas into tangible prototypes and proofs-of-concept, fast.

Want to test out an AI chatbot idea for your internal customer support team? With a few prompts and some tweaking, you can build a working prototype in hours instead of weeks. Want to visualise a new sales enablement tool or automate some manual processes? AI tools can help spin up early versions, complete with sample data and interface suggestions.

This is revolutionary not because it replaces the traditional product development lifecycle, but because it accelerates and empowers the earliest stages. It allows people closest to the problem to take the first step toward solving it.

The illusion of productivity

As these tools evolve, we can expect to see an unprecedented wave of experimentation. Innovators who were once stifled because they didn’t have access to specialist technical expertise can now explore, test and prove ideas on their own terms. 

Indeed, work that previously took a team of highly skilled people weeks or months can now be done in a matter of minutes or hours by a non-technical person. With AI, software development has been reduced to a few prompts, made accessible to everyone, to the point that it feels like we’re almost ready to cut out the middleman. 

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However, this early-stage productivity is a performative illusion. Peek under the emperor’s new clothes and you will find that your software is a long way from being production-grade - there are no tests, no architecture, no automation, no security, no monitoring, no maintainability… You have traded speed for quality and in doing so, you have traded short-term gain for significant long-term pain. 

With vibe coding, a half-working prototype might make you feel that you're 80% done, but the fact is, you are only at the beginning of the beginning of your product journey. Do not underestimate the effort required to close this gap. It is considerable. 

Discovery, as vital as ever

Still, prototypes serve a hugely valuable purpose. They build momentum. They galvanise support. They help decision-makers rally behind a vision faster than a slide deck ever could. 

But they do not replace the rigorous processes and disciplines required to bring a product to life, such as:

• Understanding the needs of real users and personas

• Identifying technical risks, blockers and unknowns

• Evaluating feasibility at scale

• Defining overarching governance and delivery approach

• Shaping a delivery roadmap and prioritised backlog

• Undertaking a detailed competitor analysis

• Estimation and cost analysis

Skipping these steps is like constructing a house without foundations. It might stand for a while but it won't last the test of time.

The takeaway

The new wave AI no-code platforms will undoubtedly reshape how we approach early stage innovation. Every enterprise should be embracing this power today.

But, we are a long way from eliminating the need for software delivery experts altogether. Yes, we will see a generation of innovators but the move from prototype to production will require the full rigours of modern software engineering for years to come.