The age of “vibe coding” is here, but it’s already breaking things in production. This approach prioritizes speed over correctness and structure, leading to regrettable technical debt and security gaps. It’s time to draw a line between writing code that runs and engineering software that lasts.
Vibe coding thrives in the early phase of any project, making it ideal for prototyping and demoing new features. However, as soon as “happy path” functionality is implemented, issues start to arise. Bugs are discovered, naming conventions are inconsistent, and business logic is tangled with UI glue code.
The solution isn’t to reject AI but to evolve how we use it. Vibe engineering retains the generative power of AI while embedding it within structure, intent, and constraint. Developers define behavior, specify constraints, and orchestrate specialized agents to engineer software that lasts.
This involves adopting critical practices such as thinking beyond individual tasks, codifying architectural standards, guiding AI toward reuse, and encouraging proactive improvement. It also means embracing test-driven development (TDD), using AI tools that summarize PRs, and maintaining architectural awareness.
By moving from vibe coding to vibe engineering, developers can create software that evolves cleanly, remains maintainable, and scales without breaking. The modern software orchestrator thinks in systems, defines intent, uses AI as a collaborator, and builds with future-readiness in mind. It’s time to prioritize sustainable software development over fleeting speed gains.
Source: https://thenewstack.io/from-vibe-coding-to-vibe-engineering-its-time-to-stop-riffing-with-ai