Tech

Google CEO says vibe coding has made software development 'so much more enjoyable' and 'exciting again'

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai said vibe coding is increasing access to non-tech workers and making software development more exciting. CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images
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The internet helped unknown writers turn blogging into a career. YouTube did the same for content creation. Now, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai believes vibe coding will similarly make new careers more accessible to non-tech workers.

Pichai made the comparison in a recent Google for Developers podcast interview with Logan Kilpatrick, who runs Google's AI Studio.

"It's making coding so much more enjoyable," Pichai said, as people can easily experiment with building apps and websites with no prior coding knowledge. "Things are getting more approachable, it's getting exciting again, and the amazing thing is, it's only going to get better."

From HR professionals to accountants, an increasing number of non-technical workers are using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Replit to vibe-code their own apps.

Pichai said vibe coding gives workers a leg up in being able to visualize ideas directly, even if they aren't proficient enough in coding to do so. "In the past, you would have described it," he said. "Now, maybe you're kind of vibe coding it a little bit and showing it to people."

In some cases, vibe coding can present opportunities within tech companies themselves. Meta's product managers have been vibe-coding prototype apps and showing them to Mark Zuckerberg. At Google, Pichai said there's been a "sharp increase" in people submitting their first CLs, or changelists — code changes that address specific features or bugs.

Pichai said there could also be risks

As the vibe coding market grows at breakneck speed, there are some potential risks to handing over the act of coding to AI.

"I'm not working on large codebases where you really have to get it right, the security has to be there," he said. "Those people should weigh in."

As of now, developers say that vibe coding is best for low-stakes experimentation and not any core software that could be prone to breaches.

Pichai said that as the technology improves, vibe coding will only become more impressive — and a big part of the tech future.

"It's both amazing to see, and it's the worst it'll ever be," he said. "I can't wait to see what other people in the world come up with it."

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Julia Pugachevsky
Julia is a senior health reporter at Business Insider. Julia covers a wide range of topics, including the rise of colon cancer cases among young people, the unique challenges modern parents face, and the growing trend of Gen Zers abstaining from social media. She also writes about fitness, nutrition, longevity, and the routines of highly successful people for Business Insider’s Power Hours series. She’s published interviews with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Serena Williams, Esther Perel, Bill Nye, Naomi Watts, and James Van Der Beek.Julia's work has appeared on the BBC, CBS, Bloomberg Radio, Morning Brew, Fast Company, and the Daily Flash. She has also moderated panel discussions at Nasdaq and Duke University, and appeared on the podcasts Open to Debate, Airtalk, The Evan Bray Show, and The Last Show with David Cooper. Prior to this role, Julia was an education and personal development editor on the Business Insider Reviews team and a sex and relationships editor at Cosmopolitan and BuzzFeed, respectively. You can say hi to Julia at jpugachevsky@jkmperu.com and check out more of her work on her website.