What happens when our most senior engineer stops writing code altogether and lets AI handle everything? Well, you can expect projects and productivity to go out the window.

Meet Simon, who is about 30+ years into the game and fully convinced that AI will fully replace the developer. From trying to build a model that could replace the whole team, to refusing to touch a pull request without an AI agent, his workflow has gone from experimental to whack.

If you’ve ever worked with someone who is blindly chasing after shiny new tech at the expense of deadlines, quality, and team morale, then this one will feel eerily familiar.

Got a tech tale of your own or some workplace drama? Hit us up at jellyfish.co/offthevpn. And don’t worry - we’ll keep it Off the VPN.

Highlights:

• Full AI Adoption: What happens when “prompt-only” coding takes over
• Leadership Lessons: Why avoiding the hard but real conversations make problems worse
• Team Impact: How one person’s workflow can ripple across an entire organization

Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Intro

(02:24) Loving shiny new tools after 30 years of experience
(05:15) Ambitious AI side project with zero business fit
(06:12) Only coding through AI prompts, no edits
(08:45) Slower work, more bugs, mounting frustration
(13:09) How managers should address extreme AI adoption
(23:39) Head of engineering crashes standup, chaos follows
(25:48) Telling a new junior they’ll soon be jobless