There is no doubt that AI has rocked the world of coding considerably over the last couple of years. One thing that has become apparent, through keeping up with the whirlwind of changes, is that people are still figuring out how to use these tools effectively. It seems like every video I watch, or article I read, people are swearing they've found the killer approach.
I have noticed through all the noise though, that there are some key concepts that seem common regardless of which approach you take. This isn't comprehensive, and is likely to change over time, but my key observations in July 2026 are:
Clarity is king
I recently watched this excellent TED Talk by Rainer Stropek. His closing remark is "I am not just a coder, I am a developer and my new programming language is clarity". The talk is well worth a watch for various reasons, but this statement definitely struck a chord with me.
Clarity, when working with AI agents, is key. This isn't a new thing though, as if you were working with a team on delivering a coding project, having a shared context and understanding of the goal and approach is key. That doesn't change when working with AI. Having that shared understanding of not just the task, but the goal and the process leading there will give you much better results than just stating a task and expecting great results.
