Vibe Coding vs Agentic Development

Vibe coding is a term coined by Andrej Karpathy describing a style where developers prompt AI tools conversationally, accept generated code largely as-is, and iterate quickly without deep code review. It prioritises speed and experimentation over engineering rigour.

Agentic development uses AI agents that autonomously plan, write, test, and refine code within structured workflows. The developer acts as architect and reviewer while agents handle implementation with built-in quality gates.

Yes — many teams start with vibe coding for prototypes and evolve toward agentic workflows as projects mature. The key transition is adding structure: automated tests, CI/CD, code review, and agent orchestration.

Vibe coding excels for rapid prototyping and MVPs where speed matters most. Once you find product-market fit and need to scale, transitioning to agentic development gives you the reliability and maintainability required for production systems.

For low-stakes internal tools or prototypes, vibe coding can work. For production systems handling user data, payments, or critical business logic, the lack of systematic testing and review makes it risky without additional safeguards.