83% of developers write on vibe, but want more governance and communication to manage workloads, new research reveals
While most developers reap the benefits of coding vibe, an Adaptavist Group report today reveals that there is a growing need for better governance and project management.
These same developers are also responding to the fact that the amount of code being produced is outstripping the teams’ ability to review, govern and manage that code. In fact, while 82% of developers say governance and review are important tasks, 11% indicated that they use AI-generated code with human review all the time, and 30% noted that it happens sometimes. Almost half said their teams have only a basic additional process for reviewing AI-generated code, while 14% responded that no additional process exists in their organizations.
“Developers are shipping more, and shipping faster,” said Neal Riley, AI Innovation leader at The Adaptavist Group, in the announcement. “Productivity is no longer the limiting factor. When developers can produce three times as much code in half an hour, and code production is faster, organizations need better visibility, planning, alignment, review, and music. The winning teams in this era won’t be the ones with the best AI tools. They’ll be the ones with the strongest connective tissue around them.”
Along with the speed of vibe coding, 71% of respondents said that this practice creates more coordination work for their team and 63% said that coding with vibe adds to the complexity of planning and tracking tasks, according to the report. As a result, .73% said that because of the coding vibe, they use project management tools more often.
The report also revealed that 2 out of 5 developers do not always disclose how much AI tools they use to do their work, saying they are worried about how they and their work will be seen. This, the report says, creates a “visibility gap” in implementation that makes it difficult for the organization to establish consistent standards for its implementation.
Risks and rewards
Among other negative things about vibe coding, according to the report, is that it introduces technical debt, some 55% of respondents said. Thirty-three percent of surveyed engineers warn of time failures and software failures from AI-generated code, and a full 67 percent say this trend limits the learning opportunities of young engineers, while 39% fear job losses.
On the positive side, the vast majority of respondents agree that vibe coding makes their work more fun, that it improves creativity, and can support using vibe coding tools throughout their organizations.
“Even as adoption accelerates, developers are looking for what’s next,” the Adaptivist Group wrote in a report. “Nearly half (49%) believe that vibe coding will eventually be replaced by agent engineering – an autonomous, workflow-driven approach to software creation – and 30% believe it can make coding even faster and more efficient than vibe coding today. As productivity milestones are reached, organizations need to align in management and planning.”
