Tech Lead Journal Gene Kim: “My Jaw Hit the Floor” - How Vibe Coding Solved Problems I Abandoned for 13 Years
Jan 19, 2026
Gene Kim, a WSJ bestselling author and DevOps expert, dives into the concept of vibe coding, a revolutionary approach to programming. He shares his jaw-dropping return to coding after 13 years, sparked by collaborating with Steve Yegge. The FAAFO framework highlights the benefits of vibe coding, emphasizing speed, ambition, and autonomy. Gene discusses the real risks involved, like corrupted databases, and advocates for shifting developer roles from 'line cooks' to 'head chefs' to foster creativity and rapid feedback in tech organizations.
01:04:23
Jaw-Dropping First Vibe Coding Win
- Gene Kim built a JVM program that computed YouTube progress from a screenshot and it worked on the first try using unfamiliar Java libraries.
- The result surprised him and reignited his love of programming after decades away from production coding.
Pairing With Steve Finished A Project Fast
- Gene paired with Steve Yegge to build a tool that transformed videos into social-ready excerpts and they finished in 47 minutes.
- Steve advised Gene to lean on the AI more instead of doing so much manual typing.
Coding Through Conversation With AI
- Vibe coding means coding without typing every line by hand, instead iterating conversationally with an AI.
- This shifts authorship from manual keystrokes to orchestrating an iterative AI-driven creation process.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Gene's DevOps career origins
02:03 • 46sec
Writing The Phoenix Project and impact
02:49 • 2min
Meeting Steve Yegge and Vibe Coding spark
05:15 • 1min
Ad break
06:17 • 1min
How the Phoenix Project was conceived
07:26 • 3min
Graphic novel and storytelling craft
10:05 • 2min
Gene's vibe coding a-ha moment
12:06 • 3min
Pairing with Steve to build fast
14:57 • 2min
Cloud Code changed the workflow
17:07 • 2min
Relearning to love programming
19:17 • 2min
Definition of Vibe Coding
21:10 • 3min
Experimenting with surveys and research
24:31 • 2min
FAAFO: Faster, Ambitious, Autonomous, Fun, Optionality
26:25 • 4min
Will AI reduce developer roles?
29:56 • 5min
Real risks of vibe coding
35:25 • 4min
Engineering instincts turned up
39:29 • 3min
From line cook to head chef
42:21 • 2min
Skills for vibe coding success
44:36 • 3min
Inner, middle and outer feedback loops
47:37 • 5min
Vibe coding at enterprise scale
52:47 • 5min
Hiring and education shifts
57:37 • 3min
Leadership wisdom and closing advice
01:00:09 • 3min
Outro
01:03:39 • 4sec
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The Visible Ops Handbook
Bayer
#5941
• Mentioned in 7 episodes
Wiring the Winning Organization
Steven J. Spear
Gene Kim
#4813
• Mentioned in 9 episodes
The Toyota Way
14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer
Jeffrey K. Liker
The Toyota Way is a comprehensive guide to the management philosophy of Toyota Motor Corporation.
The book, written by Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker, details the 14 principles that underpin Toyota's success, including long-term thinking, continuous improvement (kaizen), and respect for people.
It provides insights into how Toyota's approach to lean manufacturing and organizational culture has enabled the company to maintain high-quality production while minimizing waste and optimizing processes.
The book includes case studies and practical advice on how managers in various industries can apply these principles to improve their business processes.
#4922
• Mentioned in 9 episodes
The Unicorn Project
Gene Kim
The Unicorn Project is a fictionalized story about a DevOps transformation taking place at Parts Unlimited, the same company featured in 'The Phoenix Project'.
The book follows Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, who is exiled to the Phoenix Project after contributing to a payroll outage.
She joins a group of corporate rebels aiming to overthrow the existing bureaucratic order, liberate developers, bring joy back to technology work, and enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption.
The novel introduces the five ideals of Locality and Simplicity; Focus, Flow and Joy; Improvement of Daily Work; Psychological Safety; and Customer Focus, which are crucial for creating an environment that fosters business innovation and productivity.
#259
• Mentioned in 84 episodes
The Goal
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The book tells the story of Alex Rogo, a factory manager who is given three months to improve his underperforming plant or face its closure.
With the guidance of his former physics professor, Jonah, Alex learns to apply the Theory of Constraints to identify and manage bottlenecks in the production process.
Through this approach, Alex and his team transform the factory, improving efficiency, reducing inventory, and increasing profitability.
The novel uses the Socratic method to teach fundamental business concepts and emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement and critical thinking in management.
#987
• Mentioned in 34 episodes
Accelerate
The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
Nicole Forsgren
Gene Kim
Jez Humble
Accelerate presents the findings from four years of research, including data from the State of DevOps reports, to identify key capabilities that drive high performance in software delivery.
The book focuses on 24 practices grouped into five categories: Continuous Delivery, Architecture, Product and Process, Lean Management and Monitoring, and Cultural.
It provides practical guidance on how to apply these practices to improve team performance, reduce deployment pain, and enhance overall business value.
The book is ideal for management at every level involved in digital transformation and software development.
#14907
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
Vibe Coding
TBD
Gene Kim
Steve Yegge
Vibe Coding explores the transformative potential of AI in software development.
Co-authored by Gene Kim and Steve Yegge, the book delves into how developers can leverage AI tools to achieve unprecedented productivity.
It introduces practices for effectively using AI in coding, highlighting the importance of testing and feedback loops to ensure quality.
The authors share insights on avoiding common pitfalls, like creating haunted codebases or context saturation, by establishing clear guidelines.
The book aims to empower developers to tackle ambitious projects and explore design spaces they previously thought impossible.
It also tackles the cultural shifts and new challenges that arise when integrating AI into the development workflow.
#939
• Mentioned in 35 episodes
The Phoenix project
Lambeth London Borough Council
In this novel, Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford tell the story of Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, who is tasked with turning around the company's failing IT department.
The book delves into the challenges of IT management, the importance of DevOps practices, and how these practices can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
#3287
• Mentioned in 13 episodes
The DevOps handbook
Gene Kim
The DevOps Handbook provides a detailed and practical roadmap for improving IT in any organization by bridging the gap between development and operations teams.
It includes case studies from companies like Google, Capital One, Netflix, and others, demonstrating how DevOps practices can enhance business outcomes.
The book focuses on culture, automation, measurement, and sharing, and it extends the solutions presented in 'The Phoenix Project' to cover information security and compliance.
The second edition features new case studies and insights from renowned researcher Dr. Nicole Forsgren.
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Is the era of writing code by hand coming to an end? Gene Kim explains how vibe coding solved problems he abandoned for 13 years and why the best days of coding might be ahead of us.
In this episode, Gene Kim shares his transformation from someone who hadn’t written production code in decades to building ambitious projects in minutes. He explains how meeting Steve Yegge and discovering vibe coding reignited his passion for programming.
Gene breaks down the FAAFO framework (Fast, Ambitious, Autonomous, Fun, Optionality) of vibe coding benefits and addresses the real risks of vibe coding, from deleted databases to corrupted repos. He emphasizes that developers need to shift from line cook to head chef, mastering delegation, architecture, and faster feedback loops. The conversation also explores whether AI will eliminate or expand developer roles, what skills matter most when hiring, and how organizations can build a vibe coding culture.
Key topics discussed:
- Gene’s jaw-dropping a-ha moment solving his 13-year problem
- The FAAFO framework for measuring vibe coding benefits
- From line cook to head chef: the new developer skillset
- Real risks and downsides of vibe coding
- Will we need fewer developers or 10x more software?
- Why feedback loops must be 100x faster than before
- Building vibe coding culture across enterprise teams
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Trailer & Intro
- (03:13) What shaped Gene Kim’s career in DevOps and technology?
- (07:26) How did Gene Kim’s books like Phoenix Project come about?
- (09:55) What’s the story behind the Phoenix Project graphic novel?
- (12:21) What was Gene Kim’s a-ha moment with vibe coding?
- (14:41) How did Steve Yegge and Gene Kim collaborate on the book?
- (21:06) What is vibe coding and how is it different from regular coding?
- (25:57) What is the FAAFO framework for vibe coding benefits?
- (32:08) Will AI replace software developers?
- (36:10) What are the risks and downsides of vibe coding?
- (41:51) What skills do developers need in the age of vibe coding?
- (46:56) Why are feedback loops critical when using AI for coding?
- (51:59) How can organizations adopt vibe coding as a culture?
- (57:37) What should you look for when hiring developers in the AI era?
- (59:45) 2 Tech Lead Wisdom
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Gene Kim’s Bio
Gene Kim is a WSJ bestselling author and researcher who has studied high-performing technology organizations since 1999. The founder and former CTO of Tripwire, he has authored several industry-defining books, including The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook, with over 1 million copies sold. He also organizes the Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit.
Follow Gene:
- LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/realgenekim
- Twitter – @RealGeneKim
- IT Revolution – itrevolution.com
- Vibe Coding - https://itrevolution.com/product/vibe-coding-book/
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