Fixing a customer UI bug in under an hour with Claude Code
I’m a software engineer by training, but let’s be honest: my days of memorising specific syntax and wrestling with JavaScript frameworks are mostly behind me.
Last Friday night, a message popped up in our Slack: a customer was struggling with a UI bug. A hover state was being blocked, making a feature frustrating to use.
In the "old" world, I’d have flagged it for the team to handle on Monday. In the Claude Code world, I decided to get my hands dirty.
The result? From customer feedback → Slack → Me making the fix → Engineering review → Merged into Trunk. All within the hour.
Here’s what I’ve realised about leading in the AI era:
Syntax is no longer the gatekeeper. I didn’t need to worry about the specific boilerplate. I focused on the logic.
Context is the new currency. Because I understand our business and our customers, I knew exactly what needed to change. The AI just handled the how.
It’s not "Vibe Coding." My foundational engineering knowledge meant I wasn't just guessing. I could review the output, understand the architecture, and respect the guardrails set by our senior devs.
The future doesn't belong to the people who can memorise the most libraries. It belongs to the leaders who have the curiosity to learn new tools, the context of the customer, and the foundations to know when the code is right.
I’m spending less time on syntax and more time on the business. And honestly? Getting back into the code feels like freedom.
To my fellow CEOs & Leaders: Don’t just "oversee" AI transformation. Use the tools. Make a small PR. You’ll see the future a lot more clearly when you’re building it.