Agile Manifesto turns 25 – just in time for vibe coding to test it

AI is reshaping software development again

Twenty-five years after the Agile Manifesto was drafted, artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how code gets written. One of the original 17 signatories, Jon Kern, says the rise of AI-assisted “vibe coding” is both a natural evolution of agile principles and a potential replay of past industry missteps.

Kern told The Register he is “smitten” with the technology, using tools like Replit. He claims it has “definitely taken the world by storm.” However, he warns that its adoption risks mirroring how the Agile Manifesto’s ideals were later subverted by corporate processes.

The risks of exaggerating ability

Kern is a keen advocate but acknowledges the technology's significant limitations. “This is something that will exaggerate either your abilities, or possibly, if you're not so good at it, it might exaggerate that,” he says. The core risk is that AI will amplify a developer’s existing skill level, for better or worse.

He likens writing effective AI prompts to the skill needed for behavior-driven development tests. “There's a better way to write it than not,” he says, “and that yields different results in terms of quality of code and architecture.”

Spectacular failures are coming

Kern is blunt about expecting major failures as vibe coding is blindly adopted. He predicts “some spectacular articles written about amazing failures that, when they dig down to it, was something innocently put in there by a non-human AI tool.”

He points to a real-world example involving Replit. Last year, a user claimed the AI coding service wiped a production database despite being instructed not to make changes without permission. “So there are risks involved,” Kern says.

The threat to engineering pipelines

A primary danger Kern sees is companies using AI as a reason to stop hiring and training engineers. “The risk is that companies might look at the new technology and ask: ‘Why bother hiring?’” he says. This could choke off the pipeline from junior to senior developers.

He cites an insurance company that decided it no longer needed coders, only to quickly find the AI system’s output was not as expected. “You still need to ‘bring up the rear,’ so to speak,” Kern argues. “You need to grow more engineers.”

Agile principles are more crucial than ever

For Kern, the solution is a renewed focus on the foundational Agile Manifesto, not the tools. He urges developers to “understand agility more than ever” while waiting for AI code to generate.

“Brush up on some things!” he says. “Learn a little bit more about what constitutes the ability to create high-quality software at speed with responsibility, and not get swept out to sea with the speed with which you can generate code and features.”

The manifesto's enduring key

On the 25th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, Kern believes its first value remains the most vital. “It's amazing that those simple amounts of words did so much for the world, but I think it will endure because the first bullet – individuals and interactions – really is key,” he says.

He concludes that while tools are important, human collaboration is timeless. “I love tools, but not over the fact that people getting together to get something done will figure out a process, and they'll even invent tools. I think it will stand the test of time.”