ShiftMag

I was at Pragmatic Summit when Chip Huyen reframed the AI conversation - if any product can be generated from a clear description, code isn’t the constraint, and true value lies elsewhere.

I get it - goals often feel like extra homework. But I’ve found they don’t have to be. Done right, they can keep you focused, accelerate your learning, and guide better decisions.

I was in the room at this year’s Pragmatic Summit when Laura Tacho dropped the numbers: nearly all developers use AI coding assistants, over a quarter of production code is AI-written - and yet productivity gains haven’t budged past 10%.

That number is expected to rise to 65% within two years. Yet 96% of developers, according to this Sonar research, say they don’t fully trust AI-generated code.

After spending time with OpenClaw and seeing how it actually works, I’m convinced the hype is real. It shows that autonomous AI agents are finally living up to their promise.

With AI building features, teams must shift from doing tasks to orchestrating them - PMs guide intent, engineers oversee systems, designers review output live, and QA builds self-healing processes.

When teams don’t share information, clash on priorities, or follow unclear processes, even simple tasks can drag on for months.

Building with LLMs is nothing like traditional software. If we want something that actually works in production, we have to test it, monitor it, and keep iterating on real customer data.

We break down how the MLH acquisition could affect content quality, promotion, and your reach.

We’re past just making better tools: machines will do the repetitive coding, and humans will focus on guiding, judging, and architecture.

Ex-Tesla AI director now programs mostly in plain English with AI, calling it the biggest workflow change in 20 years.

Until now, AI could only advise and plan, never act. But MCP is finally letting it bridge the gap between thinking and doing.

ShiftMag Insightful engineering content & community

Chip Huyen: To Build or Not to Build – When AI Can Do It All?

Developer Goals Don’t Have to Be Corporate Theatre

This CTO Says 93% of Developers Use AI, but Productivity Is Still 10%

42% of Code Is Now AI-Assisted!

I Tried Recreating OpenClaw – And The Hype Is Real

It’s Time to Redesign How Product Teams Work

Code Isn’t Slowing Your Project Down, Communication Is

Forget the Model, It’s Workflows That Make LLM Products Run

Dev.to Acquired. Is This the End of the Beloved Developer Blog Network?

My View of Software Engineering Has Changed For Good

Andrej Karpathy Admits Software Development Has Changed for Good

How MCP Servers Help AI Act