When vibe coding is the right vibe

Many IT managers hear alarm bells the moment someone mentions vibe coding. And rightly so. But the alarm shouldn’t be about whether you use vibe coding. It should be about what you use it for. Because sometimes, vibe coding really is the way to go.

The big problem with vibe coding

Vibe coding is cheap, easy and accessible, making it the promised land for anyone with plenty of enthusiasm and ambition. And that’s exactly what makes it risky. If you start vibe coding without a development background, there’s a good chance you won’t account for security, governance or quality. And that’s before we even get to everything that should happen before development begins: thinking through the design, purpose, strategic value and impact on the business.

At first, the consequences of skipping those steps often remain hidden. The agent or app works, and everyone is happy. But as soon as it stops working, leaks sensitive customer data or needs an update, the IT manager is the one expected to sort it out. And yet we at Incentro (proud IT nerds that we are) still make enthusiastic use of this development.

When vibe coding is the way to go

Vibe coding is a great fit for examples like these. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee nothing will go wrong. But the risks around crashes, updates and access management are generally manageable.

• A prototype for quickly testing an idea
• An internal tool used by a handful of colleagues that might be gone again next year
• An internal training portal built purely for your own people
• An AI agent that automates a few personal tasks

What do these examples have in common? They aren’t business-critical applications, and they don’t process sensitive customer data. If one crashes, it’s mainly annoying. The business itself keeps running. That’s vibe coding at its best: speed when you need it, without taking major risks you’ll regret later.

When it’s time to bring out the big guns

It’s a different story when an application is business-critical, has external users, contains customer data or supports a process that simply cannot grind to a halt. In those cases, a vibe-coded application or agent that “works just fine” isn’t enough. You need rock-solid roles, permissions, monitoring and maintenance.

An application like that must be built to enterprise standards. Before development begins, you need to answer some important questions. Who is allowed to do what, and can those rules be enforced? What happens if one component fails, and will anyone notice in time? Can someone else take over if the person who built it leaves, or does all the knowledge live inside one person’s head? And will the application hold up if the number of users doubles?

Only once that groundwork is rock-solid should an experienced developer start building.

We’ve got your back

The good news: you don't have to avoid vibe coding forever. Even as an inexperienced enthusiast, you can easily get started with it, as long as someone consciously elevates the solution to a production-ready level afterward. Vibe coding can be a great option. Just not the solution for everything.

Still unsure about the right choice between vibe coding, low-code, or a custom-built application for your specific situation? We wrote this blog to get you on the right track.

Want to discuss it with one of our experts? Schedule an appointment below, and we'll review your case together to help you choose the best approach.