The Problem
Most senior engineers eventually hit a wall where AI feels like it’s making more work than it’s saving.The Cause
This happens because “vibe coding”—writing a prompt and hoping for the best—does not scale to enterprise codebases filled with “invisible constraints” like:- Unwritten architectural patterns
- Complex dependency chains
- Legacy system integrations
- Team-specific conventions
The Reality Check
AI isn’t a “magic black box” but a system with predictable failure modes:- Confident hallucinations: AI generates plausible-looking but incorrect code
- “Helpful” refactors: Changes that seem good but break unrelated code
- Context blindness: Missing critical constraints outside the immediate scope