When our developers use AI-assisted coding using multiple models and tools we call it Charioteering. Vibe coding is different, it is results driven and doesn't require a focus on the underlying generated code.
Requirements
We specified the application with detailed user stories from the team. We revisited these as we discovered edge cases and added extra features over the summer.
Development - the Good
Feeding user stories covering a specific feature worked directly in Cursor to expand the application. We were successful with development operations (devops) tasks like implementing Docker, deploying to AWS Lambda and publishing to Slack. We layered on AI reviews using different models like Gemini-2.5-pro and other tools to validate the application. Different AI tools were best at different tasks:
- Cursor with Claude-4-Sonnet and Gemini-2.5-pro for initial development and AI reviews.
- Amazon Q AI with Claude-4-Sonnet: good for AWS deployment and troubleshooting.
The Challenges
Without guidance many AI answers would add secrets to git and to AWS, and didn't generate efficient code. Human code review was essential. It took some experimentation and research to get Amazon Q to provide balanced strategizing on AWS solutions by using more specific prompting. Although Amazon Q had direct knowledge context, other models like Gemini-2.5-pro were better at creating more complete solutions.
Outcomes & Impact
This was a novel experimental approach for us. Our intern Benedict was able to develop an entire application, which is not something we have aimed for in past summers. In addition to Charioteering the application we also followed our usual code review process of two pairs of human eyes on everything. Thanks to our INTAP funding a senior engineer was able to spend time collaborating and reviewing with Benedict. Our finance team uses the application daily and it is a huge increase in efficiency for us.
Get in Touch
Need help with your successful Vibe coding project? Need a Vibe code rescue? Interested in applying our AI-assisted approaches to your team? Reach out and speak with our human team by clicking here.