The year of vibe coding on Netlify’s People Team

Over the past year, the People team at Netlify, initially lacking engineering expertise, has embraced "vibe coding," which leverages AI to build software through prompting rather than traditional coding, to create custom tools that enhance their operations. This innovative approach has enabled the team to develop tailored solutions such as a hiring manager enablement app, a hiring dashboard, a psychological safety learning series, an employee sentiment survey tool, and an onboarding tool, thereby saving significant costs and time while shifting the focus from reactive support to strategic partnership. By building these tools internally, the team has gained autonomy over their processes, allowing them to address specific needs more effectively than generic software solutions. Their journey began with simple, low-pressure projects, which led to the realization of the potential impact of vibe coding on their workflows, ultimately transforming how they operate and collaborate across a global, distributed team of over 100 employees. As they continue to iterate and expand their capabilities, the team emphasizes the importance of starting with small experiments, collaborating with security and engineering teams, and considering scalability from the outset.