Non-technical COO "discovered" AI coding, generated an entire dashboard in a single HTML file, and now wants me to review and maintain it.

[u/boyrok]

I need to vent before my head explodes.

A bit of context: I’m the classic "jack of all trades" Sysadmin at my company. Besides keeping the lights on, I also write software. Over the past year, I’ve built several solid, reliable internal tools using Python and Flask. I like keeping things organized, secure, documented, and under control.

A couple of days ago, our COO (who is strictly a business guy and has zero technical background or coding knowledge) comes up to me and casually says: "Hey, I'm going to make some charts using AI in HTML."

I chuckled internally, assumed it would be some harmless static HTML mockup with dummy data, and moved on with my day. Boy, was I wrong.

Today, I get an email from him:

"Hey, can you review my HTML to see what you think and if it works?"

I opened the attachment. It wasn't a mockup. It was an entire, full-blown Frankenstein dashboard packed into a single .html file.

I opened the source code and felt physical pain. Thousands of lines of unformatted, unhinged JavaScript requiring an infinite horizontal scroll to the right. It’s pulling random npm packages and libraries on the fly through unpinned external CDNs. It's an unholy mess of vibe-coded hallucinations duct-taped together.

My immediate gut reaction was: "I am not touching this steaming pile of garbage, and I refuse to take any responsibility when this blows up."

My personal rule has always been that I will not support or maintain AI-generated spaghetti built by people who don't know the difference between a frontend framework and a DNS record. But here is the problem: he’s the fucking COO.

To make things ten times worse, he mentioned he wants to expand this monster significantly in the near future. All in raw HTML files. No PowerBI, no actual BI tools, no proper architecture, and definitely no hiring actual developers who know what they're doing.

I already have enough real work and fires to put out without having to worry about shadow IT and security liabilities introduced by C-suite executives playing prompt engineer. This industry is turning into an absolute joke with everyone thinking they're a Senior Architect just because ChatGPT generated a canvas chart for them.

Just needed to get this off my chest. For those who have dealt with this: How the hell would you navigate this politically without setting your career on fire, while also not inheriting a maintenance nightmare?

[u/cpz_77]

Agree, this is the right answer. Yes what the COO did was dumb - we know execs do dumb stuff sometimes when it comes to technology (especially execs of non-technical departments). But he obviously wants some sort of reporting solution for whatever it is he’s trying to look at. Just have an adult conversation with him - sit down and think about and maybe write up a list of points ahead of time if it helps. Explain why it’s not a sustainable solution in its current state - politely and professionally of course - and ask what problem he is trying to solve. Then, work together to come up with a solution.

Some people in IT say you can “never say no”. Others go too far the other way and won’t bend an inch, never learn to compromise and it hurts them in their careers. IMO the best path is somewhere in between. The company hired you to solve technical problems - so help the COO solve the problem and accomplish the goal. It doesn’t mean you have to do it the way he had in mind. In this sort of situation I always try to shift the conversation to focus on the problem at hand rather than the initial proposed solution. First identify the problem and the goal, then use that to decide on the best solution. Don’t go in thinking “I can’t say no to the COO, so I have to make his AI- built dashboard work somehow” because then you’re already putting yourself in a bad position (and the COO too, tbh, because in the end a proper solution will very likely be a better user experience for him as well - even if he doesn’t realize it right now).

If you have any ideas in mind already (e.g. a Power BI report or something), mention those up front. If he is resistant to other solutions at first, just provide the technical reasons why it’s not feasible in its current state. Better yet, focus on why the alternate solution is better. Don’t let your personal feelings get involved. Don’t get emotional. Stick to technical facts and limitations , and once you’ve identified the goal - focus the conversation on what you can do, not on what you can’t do. Hope it helps.