After 15 years of shipping code, leading teams, and watching paradigms come and go, I've learned one thing: the tools change, but the fundamentals don't. AI is the most powerful tool I've encountered, and like all powerful tools, it demands respect, intention, and clear boundaries.
The Moment Everything Changed
I remember the first time I pair-programmed with an AI. It felt like having an infinitely patient junior developer who'd read every Stack Overflow answer ever written. Impressive. Useful. And immediately, I sensed the trap.
The trap isn't that AI will replace us. It's that we'll slowly stop doing the hard cognitive work that makes us good at what we do. We'll outsource our thinking, one prompt at a time, until we wake up unable to architect a system without asking a machine first.
This manifesto is my line in the sand.
Core Principles
1. I Am the Architect, AI Is the Draftsman
AI can generate code faster than I ever could. But generating code was never the hard part. The hard part is knowing what to build and why. I use AI to explore possibilities and accelerate execution, but I own the vision, the trade-offs, and the consequences.
In practice:
- I define the intent before I open a chat
- I question AI's suggestions against my domain knowledge
- I never ship code I don't understand
2. My Voice Stays Mine
AI can write in my style. It can mimic my tone. But the moment I let it speak for me, in emails, in documentation, in decisions, I've surrendered something I can't get back: authenticity.
In practice:
- AI drafts, I edit and own
- Client communication stays human
- My writing reflects my thinking, not a model's average of everyone's thinking
3. Curiosity Is Non-Negotiable
The best engineers I've worked with share one trait: relentless curiosity. AI makes it dangerously easy to get answers without understanding. I refuse to let convenience kill my drive to learn deeply.
In practice:
- I use AI to go deeper, not to skip the depth
- When AI gives me an answer, I ask myself: "Could I have reasoned my way here?"
- I treat AI as a sparring partner, not an oracle
4. Accountability Cannot Be Delegated
"The AI said so" is not a defense. It never will be. Every line of code that ships, every decision that gets made, every system that goes to production, I own it. The credit and the blame stay with me.
In practice:
- I review AI-generated code like it came from an enthusiastic but inexperienced developer
- I test assumptions, especially when AI seems confident
- I never hide behind automation
5. Speed Serves Quality, Not the Other Way Around
AI lets me move fast. But velocity without direction is just thrashing. I use AI to accelerate iteration zero, get something working, something tangible, then I slow down and make it right.
In practice:
- AI writes the scaffold, I handle the gnarly bits
- First draft is fast; final draft is mine
- Commit early, commit often, small changes from both of us
6. Context Is King, and I Control It
AI has no persistent understanding of my codebase, my team's conventions, or my business constraints. Every interaction starts from zero unless I provide context. This is a feature, not a bug, it keeps me in control.
In practice:
- I make intent explicit before every session
- I don't rely on AI to "remember" what matters
- I treat context as a first-class artifact
7. Domain Knowledge Is My Unfair Advantage
AI knows syntax and patterns. I know why the business logic exists, what failed in production three years ago, and which stakeholder will push back on which trade-off. That context gap is where human judgment becomes irreplaceable.
In practice:
- I invest in understanding the problem space, not just the solution space
- I bring the "why" that AI cannot infer
- I stay close to users and systems, not just prompts
8. AI Should Lift Others, Never Gatekeep
The promise of AI is democratization, lowering barriers, enabling more people to build, create, and contribute. I refuse to use AI in ways that exclude, discourage, or create new hierarchies.
In practice:
- I share what I learn about effective AI collaboration
- I use AI to mentor and explain, not to intimidate
- I advocate for access and education
A Note on the Future
We're at an inflection point. The engineers who thrive won't be the ones who resist AI, nor the ones who surrender to it. They'll be the ones who learn to collaborate with it, thoughtfully, intentionally, with clear boundaries and unwavering ownership.
AI is the most capable junior developer I've ever worked with. It's eager, fast, and occasionally brilliant. It's also overconfident, context-blind, and incapable of caring about outcomes.
My job is to care. My job is to think. My job is to decide.
That's what this manifesto protects.
The Short Version
If you remember nothing else:
- Think first. AI accelerates execution, not strategy.
- Own everything. There's no "the AI did it" defense.
- Stay curious. Convenience is the enemy of mastery.
- Keep your voice. Authenticity can't be generated.
- Lift others. AI should open doors, not close them.
This manifesto is a living document. As AI evolves, so will my understanding. But these principles, ownership, curiosity, authenticity, accountability, those don't change. They're not about AI at all. They're about what it means to be a professional.