What is Tech Engineering in the era of AI

I’m not a dev—not even a great coder. Most of my skillset lies in ML, data, analytics, product, and business strategy. But over the past few months, I’ve been “vibe coding”—not in the traditional sense, but using AI-powered IDEs and agent-based platforms to build things. The kind of engineering I’ve come to witness today feels less about raw code and more about stitching systems together—APIs, integrations, data flows.

I’ve made a bunch of stuff. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t. Many of them live only as links from tools that auto-deploy—nothing pushed to GitHub. Some tools are great at frontend but terrible at backend. Some nail integrations but can’t scale visual elements or experiences. That’s where agent-based platforms could help—when different agents manage frontend, backend, and integrations independently.

But here’s the thing—tech is becoming more about how it looks and how fast it loads. People interact with the frontend first. It tells your story. If the visual narrative doesn’t come from a human—if it’s fully AI-generated—it often feels… hollow. Lifeless. You can feel the lack of soul.

Everything users don’t see boils down to nothing—unless the thing they do see is fast and beautiful.

And this is where real engineering comes in. Real engineering is rare. The capability to make something both beautiful and lightning fast—is even rarer. I believe we’re heading toward an era where loading time and visual storytelling are everything. We’ll soon see benchmarking sites boasting: “This website loads under 10 microseconds.”

In the end, creativity and authenticity are what bring a product to life. But it’s speed—raw speed—that keeps it alive.