Vibe Coding for CTOs: The Real Cost of 100 Lines of Code (rocketedge.com)

A transformative approach to software development is emerging, known as "vibe programming," where coding shifts from manual keystrokes to orchestrating AI agents. This paradigm, introduced by AI pioneer Andrej Karpathy in 2025, emphasizes defining high-level objectives for AI to autonomously plan, code, and deploy software features. Traditional programming methods are rapidly being supplanted by this agentic approach, allowing developers to focus more on strategic oversight rather than micromanaging syntax. Companies like RocketEdge are adopting this strategy, utilizing tools such as GitHub Copilot's coding agents to dramatically reduce the time required to complete tasks that used to take weeks, ultimately fostering a significant increase in productivity. The economic implications of this shift are staggering. AI agents can generate code at a fraction of the cost of human developers—an impressive 1,000 to 10,000 times cheaper per line of code. Furthermore, AI can produce code significantly faster, achieving 50+ tokens per second compared to the typical 2 tokens per second of a human coder. However, this efficiency comes with a prerequisite: robust engineering practices are essential for the successful integration of AI agents into coding workflows. Clean, well-documented, and thoroughly tested codebases are crucial to ensure that AI can operate effectively without error. As organizations increasingly adopt these technologies, those who adapt to this new dynamic will likely leave traditional developers behind, reinforcing the importance of innovation in the AI/ML landscape.