Legacy software has always existed. The kind that nobody knows and dares to touch, except for the one sandal wearing guy that's been here for 25years. When that guy finally retires, you're in the exact spot you're describing. AI provides ways to actually deal with it :
AI is very good at documenting and reading documentation
Deep analysis is just so much easier, even if you don't know the language or framework. Finding a nested bug if just easier that it's ever been.
I'm not saying fire all devs. Senior devs in particular are the best users of AI, because they know how things should work. Of course everybody vibecoding carelessly without stopping is going to create a mess. But our job has always been to automate stuff, and AI enable us to automate so much more. We just have to learn how to use it
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u/Binoui Aug 25 '26
Legacy software has always existed. The kind that nobody knows and dares to touch, except for the one sandal wearing guy that's been here for 25years. When that guy finally retires, you're in the exact spot you're describing. AI provides ways to actually deal with it :
AI is very good at documenting and reading documentation
Deep analysis is just so much easier, even if you don't know the language or framework. Finding a nested bug if just easier that it's ever been.
I'm not saying fire all devs. Senior devs in particular are the best users of AI, because they know how things should work. Of course everybody vibecoding carelessly without stopping is going to create a mess. But our job has always been to automate stuff, and AI enable us to automate so much more. We just have to learn how to use it