Agile Manifesto turns 25 – just in time for vibe coding to test it
(2026/02/19)
- Reference: 1771493415
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/19/jon_kern_vibe_coding/
- Source link:
Interview Twenty-five years after 17 software developers [1]gathered at a Utah ski resort to draft the the Agile Manifesto, artificial intelligence is once again reshaping how code gets written.
One of those original signatories, Jon Kern, believes the latest shift – so-called "vibe coding," where developers generate software with chatbot assistance – represents both a natural evolution of agile principles and a potential replay of past missteps.
In a conversation with The Register , Kern describes himself as "smitten" with vibe coding. His tool of choice is Replit, and he claims the technology has "definitely taken the world by storm."
[2]
"The things that I've been able to do with this 'vibe coding' are striking." [3]Not everyone agrees .
[4]
Jon Kern
The Agile Manifesto has, for better or worse, played a major role in the professional lives of software developers for a quarter of a century.
There were some [5]controversies along the way, and Kern is quick to acknowledge how the manifesto's ideals were subverted over the years. [6]In 2024 , he told us sometimes it was "as if the manifesto never existed, and we're back to heavy processes."
[7]
[8]
For some people, the advent of vibe coding is a logical evolution and extension of agile principles. It is no surprise that Kern, an experienced engineer in his own right, is a keen advocate. However, he also acknowledges the technology's limitations. "This is something that will exaggerate either your abilities, or possibly, if you're not so good at it, it might exaggerate that," he says.
Replit is a fine example of the risks of unchecked AI. Last year, a user claimed the AI coding service [9]wiped a production database despite being instructed not to make changes without permission.
[10]
"So there are risks involved," says Kern, "but whenever I spot them, it'll go 'Oh, that's a really good code review, you're absolutely right.'"
Which is great, as long as the user understands what they are looking at. There is a danger the pipeline of engineers from junior to senior could be choked off as companies cut costs - who needs engineers when everything can be done using prompts? It is easy to draw comparisons with the Agile Manifesto and interpretations of it that are convenient and require fewer resources, but diverge from the original vision.
The risk, says Kern, is that companies might look at the new technology and ask: "Why bother hiring?"
[11]Study backer: Catastrophic takes on Agile overemphasize new features
[12]Agile Manifesto co-author blasts failure rates report, talks up 'reimagining' project
[13]Fragile Agile development model is a symptom, not a source, of project failure
[14]Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects
"You still need to 'bring up the rear,' so to speak," he tell us. "You need to grow more engineers."
There is, however, a real possibility that companies still fall into the trap of assuming the AI tools can replace engineers. Kern gives an example of an insurance company that decided it no longer needed coders. In short order, it found the output of the resulting system was not as expected.
[15]
Kern likens the art of writing prompts to the skills needed to write a behavior-driven development test. "There's a better way to write it than not," he says, "and that yields different results in terms of quality of code and architecture."
"That's why I think of it as it will exaggerate whatever you got."
The Replit example notwithstanding, Kern is also honest about expecting things to go wrong if the vibe coding concept is blindly accepted.
"There'll probably be some spectacular articles written about amazing failures that, when they dig down to it, was something innocently put in there by a non-human AI tool," he says.
"That's why I say you need to understand agility more than ever, and the Agile Manifesto, while you're waiting for the vibe coding to happen... brush up on some things! Learn a little bit more about what constitutes the ability to create high-quality software at speed with responsibility, and not get swept out to sea with the speed with which you can generate code and features."
Which brings us back to the 25th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto. "It's amazing that those simple amounts of words did so much for the world, but I think it will endure because the first bullet – individuals and interactions – really is key," Kern says.
"I love tools, but not over the fact that people getting together to get something done will figure out a process, and they'll even invent tools. I think it will stand the test of time." ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://agilemanifesto.org/history.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/linus_torvalds_vibe_coding/
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/02/12/jon_kern.jpg
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/agile_failure_rates/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/16/jon_kern/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/replit_saastr_vibe_coding_incident/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/07/agile_catastrophes_risk_undermining_the/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/16/jon_kern/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/10/agile_opinion_column/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/agile_failure_rates/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
One of those original signatories, Jon Kern, believes the latest shift – so-called "vibe coding," where developers generate software with chatbot assistance – represents both a natural evolution of agile principles and a potential replay of past missteps.
In a conversation with The Register , Kern describes himself as "smitten" with vibe coding. His tool of choice is Replit, and he claims the technology has "definitely taken the world by storm."
[2]
"The things that I've been able to do with this 'vibe coding' are striking." [3]Not everyone agrees .
[4]
Jon Kern
The Agile Manifesto has, for better or worse, played a major role in the professional lives of software developers for a quarter of a century.
There were some [5]controversies along the way, and Kern is quick to acknowledge how the manifesto's ideals were subverted over the years. [6]In 2024 , he told us sometimes it was "as if the manifesto never existed, and we're back to heavy processes."
[7]
[8]
For some people, the advent of vibe coding is a logical evolution and extension of agile principles. It is no surprise that Kern, an experienced engineer in his own right, is a keen advocate. However, he also acknowledges the technology's limitations. "This is something that will exaggerate either your abilities, or possibly, if you're not so good at it, it might exaggerate that," he says.
Replit is a fine example of the risks of unchecked AI. Last year, a user claimed the AI coding service [9]wiped a production database despite being instructed not to make changes without permission.
[10]
"So there are risks involved," says Kern, "but whenever I spot them, it'll go 'Oh, that's a really good code review, you're absolutely right.'"
Which is great, as long as the user understands what they are looking at. There is a danger the pipeline of engineers from junior to senior could be choked off as companies cut costs - who needs engineers when everything can be done using prompts? It is easy to draw comparisons with the Agile Manifesto and interpretations of it that are convenient and require fewer resources, but diverge from the original vision.
The risk, says Kern, is that companies might look at the new technology and ask: "Why bother hiring?"
[11]Study backer: Catastrophic takes on Agile overemphasize new features
[12]Agile Manifesto co-author blasts failure rates report, talks up 'reimagining' project
[13]Fragile Agile development model is a symptom, not a source, of project failure
[14]Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects
"You still need to 'bring up the rear,' so to speak," he tell us. "You need to grow more engineers."
There is, however, a real possibility that companies still fall into the trap of assuming the AI tools can replace engineers. Kern gives an example of an insurance company that decided it no longer needed coders. In short order, it found the output of the resulting system was not as expected.
[15]
Kern likens the art of writing prompts to the skills needed to write a behavior-driven development test. "There's a better way to write it than not," he says, "and that yields different results in terms of quality of code and architecture."
"That's why I think of it as it will exaggerate whatever you got."
The Replit example notwithstanding, Kern is also honest about expecting things to go wrong if the vibe coding concept is blindly accepted.
"There'll probably be some spectacular articles written about amazing failures that, when they dig down to it, was something innocently put in there by a non-human AI tool," he says.
"That's why I say you need to understand agility more than ever, and the Agile Manifesto, while you're waiting for the vibe coding to happen... brush up on some things! Learn a little bit more about what constitutes the ability to create high-quality software at speed with responsibility, and not get swept out to sea with the speed with which you can generate code and features."
Which brings us back to the 25th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto. "It's amazing that those simple amounts of words did so much for the world, but I think it will endure because the first bullet – individuals and interactions – really is key," Kern says.
"I love tools, but not over the fact that people getting together to get something done will figure out a process, and they'll even invent tools. I think it will stand the test of time." ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://agilemanifesto.org/history.html
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/linus_torvalds_vibe_coding/
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/02/12/jon_kern.jpg
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/agile_failure_rates/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/16/jon_kern/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/replit_saastr_vibe_coding_incident/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/07/agile_catastrophes_risk_undermining_the/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/16/jon_kern/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/10/agile_opinion_column/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/05/agile_failure_rates/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZbtUXvsz1Yu8dTPhR1c_gAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
QuickLuck
So those are the buggers to blame for all the bollocks we have to go through in order to do the job. Back when I were a lad, we 'ad none of this agile stuff. It was waterfalls all the way. And we were grateful
Agile and Jive Coding
Are good partners. Both are about delivering crap on time that was not designed, it just grew organically as people bolt on layer after layer to deal with the fact that you didn't do any proper design work up front.