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By Oladipupo Bolaji
Vibe Coding is the new rhythm of product development and it is growing in application. With more Nigerian coding enthusiasts in the IT space becoming knowledgeable and adept at vibe coding, the country would be firmly established on the road to harnessing the great potential to grow the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) from developing and selling IT products that meet real world needs or provide solutions to a global marketplace without boundaries. You only need to look at the exponential success of the software that powers the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA), to understand the huge benefits Nigeria could derive from creating and commercialising original IT solutions.
This brings me to the exciting world of vibe coding, which the former Tesla AI lead, Andrej Karpathy, first espoused earlier this year. He said: “There’s a new kind of coding I call vibe-coding, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.”
When I first came across that statement, I paused. As a product manager, I have spent years balancing creativity, structure, and speed, trying to bring new ideas to life without sinking into endless sprints. Vibe coding captures that sweet spot: building through conversation rather than code.
Andrej Karpathy coined the expression to describe how developers can now “code by prompting”, describing the outcome they want while the system writes the first version of the code. The idea has since spread far beyond engineering circles because it speaks to something broader: a new relationship between product intent and execution.
At its core, vibe coding is using smart, prompt-based tools to transform plain English instructions into working software. You describe the product idea, what it should do, how it should feel, and the tool drafts a version you can interact with. Some of the more popular examples include Lovable, Replit AI Agent, Cursor, and Bolt.
In my own work, I have used Lovable to explore product ideas before engineering gets involved. I have built simple, working models of internal tools and flows, enough to validate logic, user journeys, and design assumptions. That early validation has saved hours of rework and made our stakeholder reviews far more grounded.
The result isn’t perfect code; it’s a conversation starter. Engineers later review and strengthen it, but we begin with something real, not theory or hypothetical. That’s the essence of de-risking product development; discovering what works before investing full resources.
Vibe coding gives product teams a practical way to move faster and learn earlier. Instead of waiting for a developer hand-off, a PM or designer can prototype, test, and refine ideas directly. It collapses the gap between discovery and delivery.
It also changes collaboration. When ideas are expressed in plain language, it democratizes access, everyone can participate: business, design, compliance, or support. The product vision becomes shared, visible, and editable.
For many tech teams operating with lean resources, vibe coding isn’t a luxury; it’s leverage. It helps us test ideas faster, prioritise with evidence, and focus engineering time where it matters most.
We don’t need to build everything from scratch to learn what users need. Sometimes, a well-guided prompt can surface insights that would otherwise take weeks to uncover.
What I find most inspiring is how vibe coding restores a sense of creativity to product work. It reminds us that building software isn’t just about code; it’s about clarity of intent. When we can express our ideas naturally and see them come alive, we build products that are not only functional but lovable.
•Oladipupo Bolaji, a product manager with degrees and certifications such as MSc IT, MBA, PMP, CPM, writes via email.
