AI Coders give you the edge.The 6 Rules I Follow When Working with AI Coders.

Coding by hand is a business liability. AI Coders give you the edge.

The 6 Rules I Follow When Working with AI Coders.

This post builds on my earlier one - 'Coding by hand is obsolete'

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Over two decades coding by hand in SAS, Python, SQL, VBA - across enterprises and SMBs - and the last two with AI, I’ve reached one conclusion:

𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

It’s slower, costlier, and less scalable. The P&L edge of AI-assisted coding is too big to ignore. It’s the same shift as manual ledgers to accounting software- or calculators to Excel

It’s no longer optional. The skill now is turning domain knowledge into working systems with AI - not syntax

The only question is how fast people adapt. Those who move fast keep the edge

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆-𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧. I mean working with proper AI coding tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or Mito-AI (for Jupyter). With them, I’ve delivered client projects I’d once have declined, and built app.tigzig.com, my analytics portal with 30+ live micro-apps - open source, free and in real use.

These six rules are how I now execute - automations, models, analytics tools, full AI agent systems

𝗠𝘆 𝟲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

From live projects and lessons learnt the hard way

1. Share - Context is half the code

Give it everything it needs

• Background, logic, schema, goal, and constraints

• Include examples, sample rows, and even failed attempts

AI Coders amplify your clarity. Garbage intent in, garbage code out

2. Tell - state clearly what you want

• Set the scope and how you want it done

• Mention format, structure, and integrations upfront

Don’t make it guess - it’s a coder, not a mind reader

3. Ask - Interrogate first

Never execute blind. Ask for a plan first

• Demand 2-3 alternatives and trade-offs

• Clarify architecture, dependencies, and data handling.

If you don’t get it, don’t run it. Clarity before execution

4. Iterate - There’s no magic prompt

You still build in loops - just faster.

• Review, test, and refine outputs step by step.

• Ask it to do security and performance reviews.

AI speeds the iterations but doesn’t skip them.

5. Validate - Inspect what you expect

Test and verify

• Stress-test it

• Try and break it.

AI or no AI, the buck still stops with you.

6. The grind doesn’t go away

You still put hard hours:

• to debug, test, and validate.

• to review logs, edge cases, and data errors.

Faster. Easier. Scalable. But still a grind - just a better one.

📍 Get started: - For a quick start: youtube.com/@VoloBuilds on YouTube - practical tutorials from an experienced developer. Simple to complex builds across major tools.

📍More tutorials: YouTube - plenty of solid content out there.

📍 Live analytics tools: app.tigzig.com

📍 Guides & posts: tigzig.com