3 Lessons We Learned Working with AI in Web Development
by Leslie Alexander, Co-Founder / CEO
1. AI Accelerates Development, But Code Quality Requires Human Oversight
While AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have dramatically increased our development speed, we quickly learned that faster doesn't always mean better. Initially, our team was amazed by how quickly we could generate boilerplate code and implement complex functions.
However, we discovered that AI-generated code often lacks context awareness and can introduce subtle bugs or security vulnerabilities that only become apparent during thorough code reviews.
Top tip
Always implement a robust code review process when using AI tools. Treat AI suggestions as a starting point, not the final solution. Your senior developers should review all AI-generated code.
2. Prompt Engineering is a New Core Skill
We found that the effectiveness of AI tools heavily depends on how well you can communicate with them. Our most productive developers weren't necessarily the most experienced programmers, but those who mastered the art of prompt engineering.
Learning to break down complex problems into clear, specific prompts became as important as understanding algorithms or design patterns. We now dedicate time in our onboarding process to teach new team members how to effectively interact with AI tools.
The developers who learned to provide context, specify constraints, and iterate on prompts saw 3x better results than those who treated AI like a simple autocomplete tool.
3. AI Tools Transform Junior Developer Productivity
Perhaps our most surprising discovery was how AI democratized complex development tasks. Junior developers who previously struggled with advanced concepts like database optimization or API design could now tackle these challenges with AI assistance.
While senior oversight remained crucial, we found that junior developers using AI tools could contribute meaningfully to complex projects much earlier in their careers. This has changed our hiring strategy - we now focus more on problem-solving ability and willingness to learn rather than years of experience.
Our junior developers report feeling more confident and engaged, as they can focus on understanding business logic and user needs rather than getting stuck on syntax or implementation details.
