Zoho Founder Sridhar Vembu to Engineers: Use AI, But Never Lose Understanding

Zohos founder Sridhar Vembu has given a warning to engineers. He said engineers should not rely much on artificial intelligence when they are building software. In a message, on X Vembu said that engineers must use AI tools but they should not lose their knowledge of the job. Vembu was responding to a post by a software engineer describing the use of Claude Code (from Anthropic) at a large company. The engineer stated that AI was being used to handle virtually every phase of the software development process, including specifications, code, testing, product requirement documents (PRDs), tickets, and reports.

"No one here knows anything. Specifications, code, testing, PRDs, tickets, ticket resolution, reports... Claude Code does it all. No one on my team likes this. They are forced to ship as much as they can," the engineer wrote.

Sridhar Vembu quoted the message and replied: "It’s sad. I tell our engineers to use AI, but never to cede our understanding to AI." He also warned that companies might be adopting AI-based coding tools faster than engineers can grasp their impact.

"As an industry, we are driving a fancy new car too fast—one we barely know how to handle—heading straight for disaster," Vembu stated.

Engineer claims AI is changing software development

The engineer wrote that the pressure to produce code is growing as AI speeds up software development. In the post the engineer said that workers were putting in twelve to thirteen hours each day, most of which was spent telling AI tools what to do by writing or learning the code themselves. The engineer also said that there was no time left to check what the AI had produced or to see how the different parts of the system fit together.

"People work 12 to 13 hours a day just to hit the 'Enter' key," the engineer wrote. "There is no sense of accomplishment. No one is fixing bugs. In reality, no one is thinking anymore. The LLMs do everything. It’s soul-crushing. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if they at least gave us time to review the code and see what goes where. But no; the goal is simply to launch the product. No matter what happens," the engineer wrote.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kahekashan

[email protected]

Kahekashan is a passionate technophile with a keen eye for cutting-edge gadgets, emerging technologies, and everything in the digital realm. Raised in a Defence family with strong values and a background in literature, she has consistently pursued excellence in every endeavour. Her last full-time assignment involved content writing with the Indian School of Business.

Read More