AI-assisted development has already reshaped how we write software but we're just getting started. If you've been following the conversation in dev circles lately, you've probably heard two buzzwords thrown around more and more: Vibe Coding and Agentic AI.
They're not just hype. They represent two very different but powerful approaches to coding with AI, and knowing when to use each might be the key to shipping faster and smarter in this new era of software development.
Let's break them down.
What Is Vibe Coding?
Coined by Andrej Karpathy (former Tesla AI lead and founding member of OpenAI), vibe coding is exactly what it sounds like: coding by feel.
You give an LLM a rough prompt like:
"Write a basic API with a couple endpoints and a simple in-memory cache."
And out pops working code. You might not know exactly how it works line-by-line but you know the vibe is right.
It's the spiritual successor to autocomplete. But instead of finishing your function, it builds your whole prototype. Great for:
- Weekend hacks
- Exploratory coding
- Solo developers building MVPs
- Teams doing rapid prototyping
If you've ever booted up Cursor, Copilot, or Replit and just started "prompting your way" to a working feature, you've done vibe coding.
What Is Agentic AI?
Agentic AI takes things a step further. Instead of responding to prompts, these AI agents have autonomy. You give them a goal, and they break it into subtasks, choose tools, write and revise code, run tests, and even spin up containers—all without your direct intervention.
Imagine asking an agent:
"Build a REST API in Rust, containerize it, deploy to staging, and monitor for 404s."
And watching it plan, execute, debug, and deploy without hand-holding.
These systems use chains of reasoning, memory, stateful planning, and often plug into your existing infra. Popular examples include:
- DevOps agents for CI/CD tasks
- Multi-agent systems orchestrating complex app development
- LLMops pipelines automating data pipelines or API orchestration
How Are They Different?
| Vibe Coding | Agentic AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Level of Autonomy | Low – requires prompting and human validation | High – can self-direct, plan, and act |
| Speed | Fast for small things | Slower setup but scales tasks |
| Best For | Prototypes, individual workflows | Complex, multi-step systems |
| Risk Profile | Easy to misuse or misunderstand output | Higher ops complexity, but less manual work |
| Mental Model | "AI as assistant" | "AI as collaborator or teammate" |
How Do You Choose?
Most dev teams don't need to pick just one. The smart play is to pilot both, use them where they shine, and layer them into your workflow gradually.
Use Vibe Coding when:
- You're in flow mode
- You want to explore ideas quickly
- You're working solo or on small features
Use Agentic AI when:
- You want repeatable automation
- You're building internal tools or infra
- You need hands-off ops and scale
Where It's Going
Right now, vibe coding is dominating the AI dev UX. It's easy, fast, and feels magical. But as teams look to scale and operationalize AI, agentic workflows will become more common.
The real magic? Combining both. Prompt out a prototype with vibe coding, then let your agentic infra test, deploy, and monitor it. Or better yet have your agent do the prompting for you. Wild, but it's already happening.
Final Thoughts
If the last few years were about learning how to prompt LLMs, the next few will be about how we collaborate with AI agents at scale. Whether you're building solo or shipping with a team, there's a clear takeaway: start experimenting now. Both vibe coding and agentic AI are changing what it means to "write software."
And if you're still writing everything from scratch... you might be doing it the hard way.