Something strange is happening in IT—and if you’re a digital leader, you’re already feeling it.

Vibe coding is everywhere. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that surge of AI-assisted code generation and automation coming from, well… just about everyone. Sure, developers are vibing out hundreds of lines a day with the help of AI copilots, but so are sysadmins, analysts and even marketing folks scripting reports or automating tasks. People who never touched code before are suddenly deploying scripts, spinning up infrastructure and contributing to the software delivery pipeline.

We may very well be producing twice as much code as we did just a few years ago. For those of us who have long been invested in digital transformation, this should feel like a win—finally, more builders are building. But as always, reality is a bit messier than the hype.

“Everyone’s now churning out code—even those who never touched a line before.”

Traditionally, executives have responded to technology revolutions in one of two ways. Some jump in early, riding the wave to new efficiencies, new markets and new margins. Others take a more cautious approach — keeping their powder dry until they see how the market unfolds. After all, no one ever got fired for waiting to see how the other guy’s pilot project goes.

This same pattern is playing out with vibe coding. Some digital leaders are excited by the explosion of productivity and experimentation. Others are worried about what’s being created, by whom and how securely.

But like past tech waves — cloud, open source, mobile — this one isn’t politely waiting for executive approval. It’s already here. The troops aren’t waiting for orders. If a tool helps them do their job better or faster, they’re going to use it. Welcome to the age of shadow vibe coding.

“Like past revolutions, vibe coding won’t wait for executive blessing.”

That said, vibe coding is a little different from previous grassroots movements. Why? Because Digital CXOs, for the most part, have already embraced AI like no technology I’ve seen in decades.

From boardrooms to back offices, AI has been marketed as the ultimate productivity multiplier — a magic bullet for doing more with less. Need to accelerate product cycles? AI. Struggling to hire engineers? AI. Trying to make sense of siloed data? AI. And yes — need to produce more code? You guessed it: AI.

So vibe coding isn’t being forced through the back door — it’s walking through the front door with a badge and a business case.

But there’s a catch. As the code output explodes, so do the risks.

Let’s talk about security. CISOs and security teams are justifiably nervous. Some of the AI-generated code being pushed into pipelines is, frankly, a ticking time bomb. We’ve already heard stories of scripts wiping databases, misconfiguring infrastructure, or opening security holes wider than a forgotten S3 bucket.

The reality is, much of this vibe-coded output is being written by folks without formal training in secure software development — and by AI tools that still hallucinate or miss edge cases. The result? A productivity boom with an integrity tax.

That doesn’t mean vibe coding is a failure. It just means we’re in the awkward, adolescent phase of adoption. Remember when early cloud rollouts accidentally made everything public? Or when open source adoption was held back by FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt)? We survived those. We’ll survive this, too.

The key is leadership. Because vibe coding isn’t a fad— it’s a fundamental shift in how work gets done. Developers aren’t going back to typing everything by hand. Non-devs aren’t giving up their newfound superpowers. And digital leaders can’t afford to ignore the movement happening beneath their feet.

Now is the time to set guardrails, not stop signs. To provide enablement, not enforcement. To connect security, platform engineering and digital product teams with the people writing scripts in unexpected places.

“Digital leaders can’t afford to ignore the movement happening beneath their feet.”

So what does all this mean for you, the Digital CXO?

It means you have a choice — just like leaders did when the cloud came knocking. To quote the late, great Lee Iacocca: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

But make no mistake — vibe coding is here to stay. If you’re not already shaping its role in your organization, someone else is.