I Don’t Like the Term ‘Vibe Coding’, Says Replit CEO Amjad Masad

Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, has expressed his discomfort with the popular term ‘vibe coding’, arguing that it oversimplifies the deeper capabilities of generative AI tools and undervalues the creative process behind building software.

On the recent Sequoia’s Training Data podcast, Masad remarked, “I don’t like this term…It just cheapens the possibilities.” 

Coined by Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, vibe coding refers to using AI tools like Cursor and Windsurf, and inputting ideas to create apps and software without writing a single line of code.

While acknowledging that vibe coding might make sense for seasoned developers like Karpathy, who can casually interact with code while relying on AI to fill in the blanks, Masad emphasised that Replit is designed for a fundamentally different workflow.

“If you’re starting with Replit, you’re actually not starting from a position of code—you’re starting from an idea,” he said. Masad explained that Replit’s AI agent helps users build that idea into code without requiring them to dive into technical details. 

“When you’re using Replit Agent, you don’t have the luxury to look at the code,” he added.

He drew a distinction between the company’s main product and its Assistant tool, which caters to more advanced users and supports a back-and-forth coding workflow that might be more in line with vibe coding. 

However, Masad pushed back on the label itself. “If I were to explain Replit, it’s just vibe. Like, don’t code, vibe. Not vibe coding, just vibe.”

Beyond terminology, Masad also offered a contrarian take on AGI. While much of Silicon Valley anticipates a future where software engineers are obsolete, Masad believes AI will empower more people to build, not replace them. “We’re all going to have jobs—they’re just going to be very powerful.”

He believes that AGI will become “functional”, excelling at economically useful tasks with existing training data, like coding or math, but falling short in creative or novel domains. “Creativity in the sense of coming up with really novel things…I think it will still be the domain of the human,” Masad noted.

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, recently ran an experiment with Replit to “clone LinkedIn” using a single prompt. The result was a surprisingly functional prototype, showcasing the potential of today’s AI to turn ideas into working software.

Masad recently said that learning to code may no longer be necessary. He shared a video clip on X which shows him agreeing with Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, who predicted that most of the future code would be AI-generated. Amodei predicted that AI could be writing up to 90% of all code within the next six months.

Replit is currently in talks to raise fresh capital at a valuation nearing $3 billion—almost triple its previous worth—reflecting strong investor confidence in AI-driven software development.