> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://plantis.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # An AI state of the union: We’ve passed the inflection point, dark factories are coming, and automation timelines | Simon Willison > Simon Willison discusses the evolution of AI coding agents, the risks for mid-career engineers, and the future of automation in software development. **Original**: [Lenny Rachitsky](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-ai-state-of-the-union) · 02/04/2026 ## Summary Simon Willison discusses the evolution of AI coding agents, the risks for mid-career engineers, and the future of automation in software development. ## Key Insights > "November 2025 was the inflection point when AI coding agents crossed from mostly works to actually works." > > — Discussing the timeline of AI development. > "Mid-career engineers (not juniors) are most at risk right now." > > — Highlighting the impact of AI on job security. > "Prompt injection is an unsolved security problem." > > — Addressing the challenges in AI security. ## Topics * [ai-coding](/kb/topics/ai-coding) * [automation](/kb/topics/automation) * [agentic-engineering](/kb/topics/agentic-engineering) * [software-development](/kb/topics/software-development) *** ## Full Article Simon Willison is a prolific independent software developer, a blogger, and one of the most visible and trusted voices on the impact AI is having on builders. He co-created Django, the web framework that powers Instagram, Pinterest, and tens of thousands of other websites. He coined the term prompt injection, popularized the terms AI slop and agentic engineering, and has built over 100 open source projects, including Datasette, a data analysis tool used by investigative journalists worldwide. What makes Simon unique is that hes made the leap from traditional software engineering to AI-native development more fully and visibly than almost anyoneand hes been documenting everything he learns in real time on his blog, SimonWillison.net.Listen on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple PodcastsIn our in-depth conversation, Simon shares:Why November 2025 was the inflection point when AI coding agents crossed from mostly works to actually worksHow Simon writes 95% of his code from his phone now and why hes mentally exhausted by 11 a.m.Why mid-career engineers (not juniors) are most at risk right nowThe three agentic engineering patterns Simon uses daily (red/green TDD, templates, hoarding)The next leap: the dark factory pattern where nobody writes or reviews code and AI does its own QAWhy prompt injection is an unsolved security problem and the lethal trifecta that will likely lead to an AI Challenger disasterWhy the pelican riding a bicycle became the unofficial benchmark for AI model qualityBrought to you by:WorkOSModern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUsVantaautomate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AIWhere to find Simon Willison: X: [https://x.com/simonw](https://x.com/simonw) LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonwillison](https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonwillison) Website: [https://simonwillison.net](https://simonwillison.net) Agentic Engineering Patterns: [https://simonwillison.net/guides/agentic-engineering-patternsReferenced](https://simonwillison.net/guides/agentic-engineering-patternsReferenced): It genuinely feels to me like GPT-5.2 and Opus 4.5 in November represent an inflection point: [https://x.com/simonw/status/2007904766756880848](https://x.com/simonw/status/2007904766756880848) Claude Code: [https://code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com) Codex: [https://chatgpt.com/codex](https://chatgpt.com/codex) Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny: [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/head-of-claude-code-what-happens](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/head-of-claude-code-what-happens) Theres a new kind of coding I call vibe coding: [https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383](https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383) Firefox: [https://www.firefox.com](https://www.firefox.com) Naming expert shares the process behind creating billion-dollar brand names like Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, Sonos, Blackberry, and Impossible Burger | David Placek (Lexicon Branding): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/naming-expert-david-placek](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/naming-expert-david-placek) Windsurf: [https://windsurf.com](https://windsurf.com) Thoughtworks: [https://www.thoughtworks.com](https://www.thoughtworks.com) Cloudflare: [https://www.cloudflare.com](https://www.cloudflare.com) Shopify: [https://www.shopify.com](https://www.shopify.com) Jensen Huang: Nvidias Future, Physical AI, Rise of the Agent, Inference Explosion, AI PR Crisis: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwW8GKwHB3I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwW8GKwHB3I) Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-linear-building-with-taste](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-linear-building-with-taste) Hacker News: [https://news.ycombinator.com](https://news.ycombinator.com) Dario Amodei on X: [https://x.com/DarioAmodei](https://x.com/DarioAmodei) Lennys post on the job market in tech: [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/state-of-the-product-job-market-in-ee9](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/state-of-the-product-job-market-in-ee9) Claude app: [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/claude-by-anthropic/id6473753684](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/claude-by-anthropic/id6473753684) Gemini: [https://gemini.google.com/app](https://gemini.google.com/app) Import and export your memory from Claude: [https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12123587-import-and-export-your-memory-from-claude](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12123587-import-and-export-your-memory-from-claude) Wispr Flow: [https://wisprflow.ai](https://wisprflow.ai) The last six months in LLMs, illustrated by pelicans on bicycles: [https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/6/six-months-in-llms](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/6/six-months-in-llms) Gemini 3.1 Pro: [https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/19/gemini-31-pro](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/19/gemini-31-pro) Redis: [https://redis.io](https://redis.io) Node.js: [https://nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org) Simons tools repository: [https://github.com/simonw/tools](https://github.com/simonw/tools) Simons research repository: [https://github.com/simonw/research](https://github.com/simonw/research) Tesseract: [https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract](https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract) TDD: [https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TestDrivenDevelopment.html](https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TestDrivenDevelopment.html) Red/green TDD: [https://simonwillison.net/guides/agentic-engineering-patterns/red-green-tdd](https://simonwillison.net/guides/agentic-engineering-patterns/red-green-tdd) The lethal trifecta for AI agents: private data, untrusted content, and external communication: [https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/16/the-lethal-trifecta](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/16/the-lethal-trifecta) Prompt injection: [https://simonwillison.net/series/prompt-injection](https://simonwillison.net/series/prompt-injection) The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff: [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-coming-ai-security-crisis](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-coming-ai-security-crisis) AI prompt engineering in 2025: What works and what doesnt | Sander Schulhoff (Learn Prompting, HackAPrompt): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-prompt-engineering-in-2025-sander-schulhoff](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-prompt-engineering-in-2025-sander-schulhoff) The Challenger Disaster: Normalisation of Deviance: [https://psychsafety.com/normalisation-of-deviance](https://psychsafety.com/normalisation-of-deviance) Thanksgiving Day ChartBehind The Net: [https://www.blackswanreport.com/blog/2009/11/thanksgiving-day%C2%A0chart-behind-the-net](https://www.blackswanreport.com/blog/2009/11/thanksgiving-day%C2%A0chart-behind-the-net) CaMeL offers a promising new direction for mitigating prompt injection attacks: [https://simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/11/camel](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/11/camel) OpenClaw: [https://openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai) Introducing ai.comYour Private, Personal AI Agent: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7I-D4YXbzg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7I-D4YXbzg) Tamagotchi: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi) NanoClaw: [https://nanoclaw.dev](https://nanoclaw.dev) Spider-Man 2: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316654](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316654) Alfred Molina: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred\_Molina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Molina) AI for Data Journalism: demonstrating what we can do with this stuff right now: [https://simonwillison.net/2024/Apr/17/ai-for-data-journalism](https://simonwillison.net/2024/Apr/17/ai-for-data-journalism) Kkp: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81p%C5%8D](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81p%C5%8D) Kkp Cam: Rakiura the kkp2026 nest: [https://www.youtube.com/live/BfGL7A2YgUYProduction](https://www.youtube.com/live/BfGL7A2YgUYProduction) and marketing by [https://penname.co/](https://penname.co/). For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny](mailto:podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny) may be an investor in the companies discussed.My biggest takeaways from this conversation: Read more *** ## Related Articles Lenny Rachitsky · explanation · 84% similar Lenny Rachitsky · explanation · 82% similar Simon Willison · explanation · 81% similar *** Originally published at [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-ai-state-of-the-union](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/an-ai-state-of-the-union).