Bowst Team
At Bowst, our strength lies in combining clean software design with smart development. As a team of designers and engineers, we’re always exploring new ways to improve productivity, quality, and creativity. Lately, that exploration has brought us face-to-face with a buzzworthy method: vibe coding. While the concept has garnered attention, our assessment at Bowst leads us to conclude that it falls short of the rigorous standards required for professional, client-facing software development.
What is Vibe Coding?
Coined by Andrej Karpathy in February 2025, “vibe coding” describes programming via natural language or voice prompts. The core idea is to let AI generate code while the developer “fully gives in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.” The concept is simple: rather than writing every line yourself, you provide intent and let AI craft the implementation—reviewing or even ignoring the code it produces. In practice, tools like Cursor, Copilot, and Lovable allow you to describe what you want—for instance, “build a login page with OAuth support for our awesome client”—and then hit “accept all.”
This mode might be useful for quick, low-stakes prototypes or for exploring creative ideas in a sandbox environment. To be clear, this is no way to write production-worthy code.
Why Bowst Isn’t Adopting “Vibe Coding” for Client Projects
While some might be drawn to the perceived speed and efficiency of “vibe coding,” at Bowst, we view this approach with significant caution, especially when it comes to delivering high-quality solutions for our clients. Our primary concerns stem from the inherent risks and lack of control associated with this method:
- Technical Debt & Quality: AI-generated code can often be buggy, unoptimized, or difficult to read. As Simon Willison warns, skipping code review means trading long-term maintainability for short-term speed. For our clients, this translates directly into higher costs and frustrating issues down the line.
- Loss of Control & Understanding: Developers must retain a deep understanding of the codebase to debug, scale, and secure an application effectively. “Vibe coding,” by encouraging developers to “forget that the code even exists,” fundamentally undermines this crucial requirement.
- Security & Context Gaps: Prompt-based systems may miss critical edge cases or inadvertently introduce vulnerabilities without proper human oversight and a thorough understanding of the project’s specific security requirements and architectural context.
- Scope Limitations: “Vibe coding” works best, if at all, for trivial prototypes—not complex, mission-critical systems that demand precision, reliability, and robust engineering.
- Developer Skill Erosion: Over-reliance on AI to generate entire codebases without critical human engagement could potentially hinder a developer’s growth and problem-solving skills, which are paramount at Bowst.
Bowst’s Approach: Augmenting Humans, Not Replacing Rigor
At Bowst, we believe the true future of software development involves AI augmenting human developers, not replacing their critical thinking, craftsmanship, or oversight. We responsibly integrate AI tools into our workflow, not to facilitate “vibe coding,” but to enhance our established, rigorous practices.
Here’s how we leverage AI tools to support our professional development process, while ensuring our high standards are met for every client project:
- Targeted Prompt Design: We use clear, outcome-focused prompts for very specific tasks, such as generating boilerplate code or initial structures: “I need a responsive product card with a hover state and default mock data.”
- Rigorous Iterative Refinement & Testing: We never “accept all.” AI results are treated as a starting point. We thoroughly test, debug, and refine any AI-generated code in-browser and through our established testing frameworks. Bugs or errors are meticulously corrected by our human engineers.
- Hybrid Workflow with Unwavering Oversight: For any feature moving to production, our engineers conduct extensive tests, perform comprehensive code reviews, and benchmark performance. Every line of code that reaches production is thoroughly understood, vetted, and approved by our team.
- Context Loading & Architectural Adherence: We provide AI with existing code snippets or architecture diagrams in prompts, ensuring it understands project patterns and adheres to our established best practices.
- Comprehensive Security Review: AI-generated code, like all code, undergoes strict security scans for vulnerabilities, outdated dependencies, or poor practices. Human expertise is always the final arbiter of security.
- Documentation & Standards: While AI can assist with comments and READMEs, all changes are meticulously version-controlled and peer-reviewed by our experienced developers.
The Bowst Verdict: Human Ingenuity Trumps “Vibes” for Production
“Vibe coding” is not about amplifying what developers do best; it’s a concept that, for professional production work, risks undermining the very foundations of quality, security, and maintainability.
The true future of software development is AI + human in harmony, where AI responsibly handles repetitive tasks, and highly skilled engineers step in to architect, refine, strengthen, secure, and polish. At Bowst, we don’t succumb to fleeting trends that compromise our commitment to excellence. We uphold that human judgment, rigorous processes, and meticulous code quality are indispensable for delivering the robust, reliable, and secure applications our clients depend on.
