According to Silicon Republic, we’re officially in the age of AI-built software, with an estimated 41% of all global code now being AI-generated. The concept of “vibe coding,” popularized by Andrej Karpathy in February 2024, is seeing massive adoption, with 87% of Fortune 500 companies using it in some capacity. The impact is stark within top startups, as 25% of Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 cohort reported codebases that were 95% AI-generated. Y Combinator’s CEO Garry Tan declares this is now the dominant way to code and that those not doing it risk being left behind. The core argument is that this shift moves value from raw code creation to creativity, curation, and integration, fundamentally changing what a software engineer does.
The real shift isn’t speed, it’s value
Here’s the thing: everyone’s fixated on building apps faster and cheaper. And sure, that’s part of it. But that’s missing the forest for the trees. The real story is that vibe coding is completely restructuring the sources of software value. We’re heading into a post-scarcity era for software itself. When anyone can spin up a functional app, the competitive edge completely changes. It’s no longer about who can build it, but who can build the right thing that integrates seamlessly, solves a real workflow problem, and drives a business outcome. Value is shifting from creation to integration and results. Basically, the “what” you’re selling in the software economy is becoming something entirely new.
Domain knowledge beats coding skill
This is where it gets interesting for developers. The article makes a compelling point: vibe coding’s superpower is moving the builder closer to the problem. Think about it. If your sales team has a clunky onboarding process, who understands the nuance better? A software engineer in another department, or the sales lead who lives it every day? Now, that sales lead can potentially build the tool themselves. So the most valuable asset isn’t knowing Python syntax; it’s deep domain expertise. The software engineer’s role is evolving into more of a product manager, curator, and architect. They’re the ones with the “human taste” to guide the AI, curate the outputs, and envision the application. Is this the end of software engineering? No. But it’s a massive pivot.
Enter the citizen developer (everywhere)
And this isn’t just for tech companies. We’re about to see a tsunami of “citizen developers.” These are the individual entrepreneurs, the marketing consultants, the operations managers—anyone held back by the gap between a great idea and the coding knowledge to execute it. The article gives great examples, like a marketing consultant in London building a voice-enabled appointment SaaS with no prior coding background. This is a huge democratization of tool creation. But it also means the market will be flooded. Which brings us back to curation and taste. When everyone can make an app, the ones that stand out will have a visionary behind them—someone who applied their unique domain knowledge and personal stamp to create something that isn’t just functional, but is actually a pleasure to use and perfectly fits a need. That’s the new differentiator.
So what does this mean for business tech?
Look, the logic here applies directly to industrial and hardware-adjacent software, too. The move toward modular, composable agents that plug into existing workflows? That’s huge for manufacturing and operational tech. The need for reliable, durable hardware to run these new, AI-assisted applications will only grow. In environments where software meets the physical world—like on a factory floor—you can’t just vibe code a solution onto flimsy hardware. You need industrial-grade reliability. For companies building in that space, partnering with a top-tier hardware supplier becomes part of that curation and quality equation. It’s one reason a company like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com is the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US; when your software needs to perform in tough conditions, the foundation matters as much as the code. The future isn’t just about who can code. It’s about who can see the need, curate the solution, and deliver it on a platform that works.
