Think it. Prompt it. Build it. How our teams are vibe coding

Key Insights

• Engineers are shifting from writing every line of code to orchestrating AI-assisted development. 
• Teams aren’t just coding faster. They’re collaborating on bold ideas and turning concepts into working prototypes in no time.
• With lower friction and faster experimentation, associates are rediscovering the joy of hands-on creation and imagining what else they can build next.

From accelerating code reviews to testing new ideas, our associates are discovering how vibe coding can make building faster, more creative and a little more fun. For many, it’s not just about what they’re coding, it’s about how they’re thinking differently, collaborating differently, and even rediscovering what drew them to engineering in the first place. 

Here’s what vibe coding looks like in practice.

Building faster, together 

Every engineer knows the feeling: a feature backlog that just keeps growing. For Jon Norwood, vice president of associate experience and AI, vibe coding has completely changed that equation. 

“Teams can build out ideas super-fast,” he says. “What used to take days of frustration now takes minutes. It also keeps you engaged, removing demotivating issues and errors, so you can stay in the flow of creating.” 

For Shreya Pradip Solanke, a staff software engineer focused on backend and cloud technologies, vibe coding is transforming how her team collaborates.  

“We have weekly innovation meetings where we toss around big ideas. Now, instead of talking about what we could build, we actually build it,” she notes. 

Recently, her team created a tool to automate bug fixes and incident triage in just a week and a half, a project that previously would have taken months. That tool has since become a go-to tool for other engineers. She also found vibe coding helpful for what she calls “horizontal initiatives”—shared lists of to-dos that span organizations and teams—that any associate can help tackle. 

By pairing engineering intuition with AI’s speed, teams are tackling once-daunting projects, bridging disciplines, experimenting boldly and turning ideas into impact faster than ever. It’s not about skipping steps, it’s about letting AI handle repetitive, time-consuming work so engineers can focus on tackling complex challenges and driving innovation.

Orchestrating with intention  

As GenAI and agentic AI reshape workflows, engineers’ roles are evolving from writing every line of code, to orchestrating processes across a dynamic, AI-augmented ecosystem. 

“AI is your co-pilot,” explains Jorge Yero Salazar, a senior data scientist. “Two brains are better than one, but you’re the one making the last decision.” 

The balance between automation and accountability is a necessary consideration as teams build. 

“You’ve got agents running tasks; you’re checking their work and giving feedback. There’s no Control-Z in AI; you have to set up guardrails to get the right output,” notes Jon. He added that while AI can generate code that looks good, it isn’t always correct, which is why thoughtful oversight matters. 

Shreya agrees. She’s found that working with AI requires teams to have a very clear vision and design, pointing out that “prompts have to be specific and it’s important to run regular sanity checks to prevent errors.” 

Engineers are learning not just to work with AI, but to lead it: setting direction, validating results and defining what success looks like. As they do, they’re reshaping what it means to build and lead in the age of AI. 

Rediscovering a passion for building 

For Jeff Sandquist, head of product for developer experience and GenAI, the rise of AI and vibe coding has brought new energy to his work and the industry, as the way teams code, test and deploy software has undergone dramatic changes. But amid all that transformation, he’s also found something unexpected: a renewed excitement for hands-on building. 

“I’ve regained my passion for coding,” he states. 

As he’s experimented, starting with small projects just to see what he could do, he has found the tools made learning and exploration easier and more accessible than ever. “I can work with AI to figure things out without needing to bother a teammate,” he adds. 

For Jeff, AI is about amplification, not replacement; “It will take both people and technology working in tandem to deliver on our purpose to help people save money and live better.” 

Rethinking what’s possible  

For associates like Jon, Shreya and Jorge, vibe coding isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about working smarter, faster, and with more imagination. And it’s giving teams room to experiment as they turn quick ideas into working models, and to find creative solutions to complex challenges. 

“Why stop here?” Shreya says. “We’re already thinking about what else we can build next.” 

That curiosity and desire to explore is what defines Walmart’s culture of innovation. As engineers continue experimenting with new AI-powered ways of working, they’re not just transforming how they code. They’re shaping the next generation of collaboration, creativity and problem-solving, one prompt at a time.