A few people have asked me how I use AI coding tools. I don’t think it’s a straightforward answer. For me it’s not really a procedure or recipe, it’s more of an ethos.

Principle: Ownership

You own the code your AI produces.

Use your own name to commit AI code so that if something breaks, everyone blames you. This is critical. How well do you need to know the code your AI produces? Well enough that you can answer for it’s mistakes.

In lean manufacturing they have the principle of Genchi genbutsu, i.e. “go and see for yourself.” In High Output Management, Andy Grove pushes “management by walking around”. Andy defines the output of a manager as the output of their entire org as well as the organizations under their influence.

The trouble with phrasing it as “AI coding” is it tricks you into thinking it’s just...