When My Senior Developer Called My Junior Developer an Idiot (They're Both AI)

INTRODUCTION

We thought one AI could replace an entire team. We were wrong. In this episode, Ian and Shaun Phillips unpack what actually works when building with agentic AI - including why you need junior AND senior developers, why your AI needs retrospectives, and the five words that stop AI echo chambers. Plus: how a 61-year-old sold his first app and what that means for the future of who gets to build software.

The Big Idea

Everyone assumed agentic AI would be one system doing everything perfectly. Turns out, AI works better when you treat it like a team - with roles, tensions, handoffs, and even the occasional dressing down.

What We Cover:

* Why “anyone can be a developer now” isn’t hype - it’s operational reality

* The surprising discovery: giving AI a “junior developer” persona works better than “20-year expert”

* How context windows are the new “my brain is full” excuse (and why it matters for handoffs)

* Building AI teams with org charts, retrospectives, and structured conflict

* The five-word prompt that breaks AI out of echo chamber mode

* Where hybrid human-AI teams actually work - and where they fall apart

Key Moments:

* [00:00] Ian sells his first app at 61 - what that signals about the barrier to entry

* [04:30] The junior/senior developer revelation - why role tension improves output

* [12:15] Context windows and the art of the handoff

* [18:40] “I’m wrong, tell me why” - forcing AI to challenge your thinking

* [24:00] Should your AI team run retrospectives?

This Episode Is For You If:

* You’re experimenting with agentic AI and hitting walls

* You’ve assumed one AI system should handle everything

* You want practical patterns for human-AI collaboration

* You’re curious whether your non-technical people could start building

Tags/Keywords

agentic AI, vibe coding, AI teams, future of work, software development, context windows, AI collaboration, Google AI Studio, Claude, Gemini, hybrid teams, prompt engineering, junior developer, senior developer

Pull Quotes (for social/clips)

“My senior developer is occasionally quite abusive about the junior developer. Literally: ‘What an idiot. How could he have made this mistake?’”

“We thought my team of six could now be just one AI system. I’m not there now.”

“Anyone can be a software developer. The barrier to entry has never been lower.”

“The AI won’t naturally challenge you. So you just say: I’m wrong. Tell me why.”

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