The Stack Overflow Podcast Being unambiguous in what you want: the software engineer in a vibe coding world
Aug 5, 2025
Quinn Slack, CEO and co-founder of Sourcegraph, shares insights into the transformative power of AI in software engineering. He discusses how AI coding tools shift developer roles from syntax-focused tasks to higher-level management and design. The conversation highlights the blend of human creativity with AI, the rise of vibe coding enabling non-programmers to build apps, and the critical need for clear project requirements. Slack also emphasizes the importance of human oversight in AI-assisted coding, navigating its potential and challenges in the evolving tech landscape.
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Quinn Slack's AI Coding Journey
- Quinn Slack describes his coding journey, starting coding as a child and recently having AI write the majority of his code.
- His coding process has completely inverted due to AI, which is thrilling but still sinking in.
Unambiguous Specs Are Core
- Software engineers must be unambiguous in specifying what they want to a computer, which remains a core developer skill.
- AI tools shift developer roles toward architecting, designing, managing, and reviewing code rather than just writing it.
Let AI Iterate and Improve
- Use iterative prompting and feedback loops to effectively work with agentic coding tools.
- Let AI test and correct code itself rather than micromanaging each edit for better results.