Why Prompt Engineering Skills Matter More than Your AI Model with Melkey Dev

In this episode of Modern Web, Danny Thompson chats with MelkeyDev, a Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer at Twitch, about AI’s real-world applications, developer productivity, and the future of careers in Go.

They cover everything from the rise of tiny AI-driven teams competing with large enterprises to how system prompts may matter more than model choice. Melkey shares his thoughts on cost-effective LLMs, production pitfalls, and the cognitive downsides of over-relying on AI. The conversation also explores backend development with Go, what makes it great for fast-moving teams, and how new developers can get started.Keypoints from this episode:- AI’s real value lies in business use cases. Melkey emphasizes that AI isn’t just a productivity tool; it enables small teams to build faster, cheaper, and more effectively than ever before.

- System prompts are underrated. When it comes to LLM performance, prompt engineering often matters more than the model itself, especially for UI generation and agent design.

- Cognitive cost of AI reliance. Referencing recent research, Melkey warns that overusing AI tools can reduce your ability to retain knowledge and perform certain tasks independently.- Go remains a strong backend choice. Despite being “boring,” Go continues to power developer velocity and scalable infrastructure, making it a smart language for backend-focused engineers.Follow MelkeyDev on Twitter: https://x.com/MelkeyDevSponsored by This Dot Labs: thisdot.co