AB's Reflections

Tag: thoughts

  • The Law of Leaky Abstractions & the Unexpected Slowdown

    The Law of Leaky Abstractions & the Unexpected Slowdown

    If the first rush of agentic/vibe coding feels like having a team of superhuman developers, the second phase is a reality check—one that every software builder and AI enthusiast needs to understand.

    Why “Vibe Coding” Alone Can’t Scale

    The further I got into building real-world prototypes with AI agents, the clearer it became: Joel Spolsky’s law of leaky abstractions is alive and well.

    You can’t just vibe code your way to a robust app—because underneath the magic, the cracks start to show fast. AI-generated coding is an abstraction, and like all abstractions, it leaks. When it leaks, you need to know what’s really happening underneath.

    My Experience: Hallucinations, Context Loss, and Broken Promises

    I lost count of the times an agent “forgot” what I was trying to do, changed underlying logic mid-stream, or hallucinated code that simply didn’t run. Sometimes it wrote beautiful test suites and then… broke the underlying logic with a “fix” I never asked for. It was like having a junior developer who could code at blazing speed—but with almost no institutional memory or sense for what mattered.

    The “context elephant” is real. As sessions get longer, agents lose track of goals and start generating output that’s more confusing than helpful. That’s why my own best practices quickly became non-negotiable:

    • Frequent commits and clear commit messages
    • Dev context files to anchor each session
    • Separate dev/QA/prod environments to avoid catastrophic rollbacks (especially with database changes)

    What the Research Shows: AI Can Actually Slow Down Experienced Devs

    Here’s the kicker—my frustration isn’t unique.

    A recent research paper, Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity, found that experienced developers actually worked slower with AI on real-world tasks. That’s right—AI tools didn’t just fail to deliver the expected productivity boost, they created friction.

    Why?

    • Only about 44% of AI-generated code was accepted
    • Developers lost time reviewing, debugging, and correcting “bad” generations
    • Context loss and reliability issues forced more manual intervention, not less

    This matches my experience exactly. For all the hype, these tools introduce new bottlenecks—especially if you’re expecting them to “just work” out of the box.

    Lessons from the Frontlines (and from Agent Week)

    I’m not alone. In the article What I Learned Trying Seven Coding Agents, Timothy B. Lee finds similar headaches:

    • Agents get stuck
    • Complex tasks routinely stump even the best models
    • Human-in-the-loop review isn’t going anywhere

    But the tools are still useful—they’re not a dead end. You just need to treat them like a constantly rotating team of interns, not fully autonomous engineers.

    Best Practices: How to Keep AI Agents Under Control

    So how do you avoid the worst pitfalls?

    The answer is surprisingly old-school:

    • Human supervision for every critical change
    • Sandboxing and least privilege for agent actions
    • Version control and regular context refreshers

    Again, Lee’s article Keeping AI agents under control doesn’t seem very hard nails it:

    Classic engineering controls—proven in decades of team-based software—work just as well for AI. “Doomer” fears are overblown, but so is the hype about autonomy.

    Conclusion: The Hidden Cost of Abstraction

    Vibe coding with agents is like riding a rocket with no seatbelt—exhilarating, but you’ll need to learn to steer, brake, and fix things mid-flight.

    If you ignore the leaky abstractions, you’ll pay the price in lost time, broken prototypes, and hidden tech debt.

    But with the right mix of skepticism and software discipline, you can harness the magic and avoid the mess.

    In my next post, I’ll zoom out to the economics—where cost, scaling, and the future of developer work come into play.

    To be continued…

  • The Thrill and the Illusion of AI Agentic Coding

    The Thrill and the Illusion of AI Agentic Coding

    A few months ago, I stumbled into what felt like a superpower: building fully functional enterprise prototypes using nothing but vibe coding and AI agent tools like Cursor and Claude. The pace was intoxicating—I could spin up a PoC in days instead of weeks, crank out documentation and test suites, and automate all the boring stuff I used to dread.

    But here’s the secret I discovered: working with these AI agents isn’t like managing a team of brilliant, reliable developers. It’s more like leading a software team with a sky-high attrition rate and non-existent knowledge transfer practices. Imagine onboarding a fresh dev every couple of hours, only to have them forget what happened yesterday and misinterpret your requirements—over and over again. That’s vibe coding with agents.

    The Early Magic

    When it works, it really works. I’ve built multiple PoCs this way—each one a small experiment, delivered at a speed I never thought possible. The agents are fantastic for “greenfield” tasks: setting up skeleton apps, generating sample datasets, and creating exhaustive test suites with a few prompts. They can even whip up pages of API docs and help document internal workflows with impressive speed.

    It’s not just me. Thomas Ptacek’s piece “My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts” hits the nail on the head: AI is raising the floor for software development. The boring, repetitive coding work—the scaffolding, the CRUD operations, the endless boilerplate—gets handled in minutes, letting me focus on the interesting edge cases or higher-level product thinking. As they put it, “AI is a game-changer for the drudge work,” and I’ve found this to be 100% true.

    The Fragility Behind the Hype

    But here’s where the illusion comes in. Even with this boost, the experience is a long way from plug-and-play engineering. These AI coding agents don’t retain context well; they can hallucinate requirements, generate code that fails silently, or simply ignore crucial business logic because the conversation moved too fast. The “high-attrition, low-knowledge-transfer team” analogy isn’t just a joke—it’s my daily reality. I’m often forced to stop and rebuild context from scratch, re-explain core concepts, and review every change with a skeptical eye.

    Version control quickly became my lifeline. Frequent commits, detailed commit messages, and an obsessive approach to saving state are my insurance policy against the chaos that sometimes erupts. The magic is real, but it’s brittle: a PoC can go from “looks good” to “completely broken” in a couple of prompts if you’re not careful.

    Superpowers—With Limits

    If you’re a founder, product manager, or even an experienced developer, these tools can absolutely supercharge your output. But don’t believe the hype about “no-code” or “auto-code” replacing foundational knowledge. If you don’t understand software basics—version control, debugging, the structure of a modern web app—you’ll quickly hit walls that feel like magic turning to madness.

    Still, I’m optimistic. The productivity gains are real, and the thrill of seeing a new prototype come to life in a weekend is hard to beat. But the more I use these tools, the more I appreciate the fundamentals that have always mattered in software—and why, in the next post, I’ll talk about the unavoidable reality check that comes when abstractions leak and AI doesn’t quite deliver on its promise.

    To be continued…

  • Shadow AI, Friction Fatigue & the Flexibility Gap: 5 Lessons from the Ivanti Tech at Work 2025 Report

    Shadow AI, Friction Fatigue & the Flexibility Gap: 5 Lessons from the Ivanti Tech at Work 2025 Report

    The Ivanti Tech at Work 2025 report isn’t just a workplace tech survey — it’s a mirror to how modern organizations are struggling (and sometimes succeeding) to adapt to the realities of hybrid work, AI adoption, and employee expectations.

    Here are 5 insights that stood out — and why they matter for anyone building teams, tools, or trust in the modern workplace.

    🔗 Read the full report

    1. Shadow AI Is a Trust Problem, Not Just a Tech One

    Nearly 1 in 3 workers admit they use AI tools like ChatGPT in secret at work.

    Why the secrecy?

    According to the report:

    • 36% want a competitive edge
    • 30% fear job cuts or extra scrutiny
    • 30% say there’s no clear AI usage policy
    • 27% don’t want their abilities questioned

    This is more than a governance issue. It’s a cultural signal.
    Employees are turning to AI to be more productive — but doing so under the radar signals a trust deficit and policy vacuum.

    💡 What to do:
    Leaders need to replace silence with structure — with clear, enabling policies that promote responsible AI use, and an environment where value creation matters more than screen time.

    2. The Flexibility Paradox: High Demand, Low Supply

    83% of IT professionals and 73% of office workers value flexibility highly — but only ~25% say they actually have it.

    Even as companies trumpet hybrid work, asynchronous enablement, autonomy, and outcome-based work norms haven’t caught up. The result? Disengagement and frustration.

    💡 What to do:
    Revisit what flexibility really means. It’s not just about where people work — it’s how they work.
    That means:

    • Tools for async collaboration
    • Decision-making frameworks for remote teams
    • Leaders modeling flexible behaviors

    3. Presenteeism Is the New Fatigue

    The report highlights “digital presenteeism”: workers pretending to be active — jiggling mice, logging in early — to appear productive.

    • 48% say they dislike their job but stay
    • 37% admit to showing up without doing meaningful work

    These are signs of unclear expectations and poor workflow design — not disengagement alone.

    💡 What to do:
    Audit for friction, not just lag.
    Look at your workflows, KPIs, and culture. Are people forced to perform busyness instead of real value?

    4. The Digital Experience Gap Is Real

    While flexible work is valued, many workers find it harder to work outside the office. The report notes:

    • 44–49% say collaboration is easier in-office
    • 36–48% say manager access is better in-office
    • 16–26% say apps are easier to use from the office

    💡 What to do:
    Enable remote-first experience, not just policy:

    • Seamless access to tools and systems
    • Integrated collaboration platforms
    • AI-powered support and IT workflows

    5. Redesign for Trust, Not Just Tools

    The big takeaway?

    Workers don’t just need better AI — they need clarity on what’s allowed
    They don’t just need more flexibility — they need workflows that enable it
    They don’t just need faster tools — they need a culture that values trust over control

    Final Thoughts

    The Ivanti Tech at Work 2025 report is a diagnostic — revealing what happens when new tools are bolted onto outdated operating models.

    For leaders, the message is clear:

    We need to evolve not just our tech stack, but our trust stack.

    🔗 Read the full report

  • From Productivity to Progress: What the New MIT-Stanford AI Study Really Tells Us About the Future of Work

    From Productivity to Progress: What the New MIT-Stanford AI Study Really Tells Us About the Future of Work

    A new study from MIT and Stanford just rewrote the AI-in-the-workplace narrative.

    Published in Fortune this week, the research shows that generative AI tools — specifically chatbots — are not only boosting productivity by up to 14%, but they’re also raising earnings without reducing work hours.

    “Rather than displacing workers, AI adoption led to higher earnings, especially for lower-performing employees.”

    Let that sink in.

    🧠 AI as a Floor-Raiser, Not a Ceiling-Breaker

    The most surprising finding?
    AI’s greatest impact was seen not among the top performers, but among lower-skilled or newer workers.

    In customer service teams, the AI tools essentially became real-time coaches — suggesting responses, guiding tone, and summarizing queries. The result: a productivity uplift and quality improvement that evened out performance levels across the team.

    This is a quiet revolution in workforce design.

    In many traditional orgs, productivity initiatives often widen the gap between high and average performers. But with AI augmentation, we’re seeing the inverse — a democratization of capability.

    💼 What This Means for Enterprise Leaders

    This research confirms a pattern I’ve observed firsthand in consulting:
    The impact of AI is not just technical, it’s organizational.

    To translate AI gains into business value, leaders need to:

    ✅ 1. Shift from Efficiency to Enablement

    Don’t chase cost-cutting alone. Use AI to empower more team members to operate at higher skill levels.

    ✅ 2. Invest in Workflow Design

    Tool adoption isn’t enough. Embed AI into daily rituals — response writing, research, meeting prep — where the marginal gains accumulate.

    ✅ 3. Reframe KPIs

    Move beyond “time saved” metrics. Start tracking value added — better resolutions, improved CSAT, faster ramp-up for new hires.

    🔄 A Playbook for Augmented Teams

    From piloting GPT agents to reimagining onboarding flows, I’ve worked with startups and enterprise teams navigating this shift. The ones who succeed typically follow this arc:

    1. Pilot AI in a high-volume, low-risk function
    2. Co-create use cases with users (not for them)
    3. Build layered systems: AI support + human escalation
    4. Train managers to interpret, not just supervise, AI-led work
    5. Feed learnings back into process improvement loops

    🔚 Not AI vs Jobs. AI Plus Better Jobs.

    The real story here isn’t about productivity stats. It’s about potential unlocked.

    AI is no longer a futuristic experiment. It’s a present-day differentiator — especially for teams willing to rethink how work gets done.

    As leaders, we now face a simple choice:

    Will we augment the talent we have, or continue to chase the talent we can’t find?

    Your answer will shape the next 3 years of your business.

    🔗 Read the original article here:

    Fortune: AI chatbots boost earnings and hours, not job loss

    Want to go deeper? I’m working on a new AI augmentation playbook — DM me or sign up for updates.

    #AI #FutureOfWork #EnterpriseStrategy #GTM #DigitalTransformation #Chatbots #Productivity #ConsultingInsights

  • Decoding Pharma Analytics: Customer Segmentation and Engagement Strategies

    Decoding Pharma Analytics: Customer Segmentation and Engagement Strategies

    I recently had the opportunity to share a fascinating online lecture to a group of MBA students about Pharmaceutical Analytics, specifically focusing on customer segmentation and engagement strategies.

    I have created a summary podcast using presentation, sources and audio recording from the session which you can check out below:

    Also sharing the presentation from the session.

    Building Real-World Models lecture 2025.01.14Download

    Do get in touch if you would like me to hold similar sessions for your organization or institution.

  • The Moon in 2024 through the S23 & more

    The Moon in 2024 through the S23 & more

    It’s been a while since I posted about my photography activities and the phone reviews, and what better time than the new year to look back at some of the memories created over the last year.

    Here’s a couple of moonshots taken last year with my current phone – the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra that I got back in 2023. I’ve put the 30x zoom versions first followed by the regular wide angle photo to give a sense of the zoom. All were taken during our 2024 summer trip to Kashmir (first set in Phalagam, second in Srinagar on the Dal Lake).

    While the zoomed in images may not be the sharpest, the S23 Ultra has finally made me stop missing my DSLR with its zoom lenses. There may have been a lot of controversy over the artificial enhancement in the moon photos taken with Samsung phones, but I have been really pleased with the performance of the 10x lens which enables shots that were unthinkable on mobile phones.

    The moon is of course not the only object that you can shoot, so here’s a few more including the Sun, a rainbow and more travel photos.

    Do follow me on Instagram for more.

  • Dubai Diaries: Running LLMs & Stable Diffusion locally on a gaming laptop

    Dubai Diaries: Running LLMs & Stable Diffusion locally on a gaming laptop

    I previously wrote about the second device that I got about coming to Dubai, but not much about the first one which was a gaming laptop. So here’s a bit about the laptop which also doubles as a local AI driver thanks to the Nvidia GPU (the RTX3060).

    Soon after getting it back in 2022, I tried running the Stable Diffusion models and it was quite a bit of an upgrade over my original attempt on a plain GPU-less Windows machine. The generation times came down to 10s or so, and has gotten even faster as the models and tools have been optimised over the last couple of years. There are quite a few projects available on GitHub if you want give it a try – AUTOMATIC1111 and easydiffusion are among the more popular options. Nvidia has also got a TensorRT extension to further improve performance.

    With that out of the way, I also discovered LM Studio which allows you to run LLMs locally with a chat like interface thrown in, and you can access a bunch of models like Meta’s LLama. The response times are of course not as fast as the freely available online options like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and the likes, but you effectively get unlimited access to the model.

    Here’s an example from a conversation I had with LLama regarding the coffee meme from Ace Attorney game series:

  • Dubai Diaries: Staying active via VR

    Dubai Diaries: Staying active via VR

    The second device (the first was of course the gaming laptop that has been doing double duty as a GenAI device) that I purchased in Dubai after relocating in 2022 was the Meta Quest 2 VR headset.

    Picking it up towards the end of the year has its advantages as the apps and games are usually discounted due to the Christmas sales. In fact I got Beat Saber as a freebie with my purchase. This was the game that sent me down the Meta VR App store rabbit hole where I found a bunch of sports games like:

    There are also games for boxing, fishing, shooting, Star Wars (becoming Darth Vader’s apprentice) among others. They are a big departure from the typical computer, mobile or console gaming as they require you to move around and give you a decent workout.

    I also picked up some accessories like the hard case to store & transport the device in a safer manner, along with the head strap replacement. The head strap in particular is a big upgrade and almost necessary if you want to use the headset for even a moderate amount of time.

    Most have been around for several years now and have gotten a boost in terms of features & quality thanks to the renewed focus on AR & VR with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 over the last year or so.

    Here’s my experience with some of these apps that have helped me stay more active, especially during the Dubai summers when it gets pretty difficult for outdoor activities. One thing to note is that most of these apps/games require some dedicated space – typically 6″ x 6″ – to play safely, though some can be played standing in one place.

    iB Cricket

    This game has been developed by a team from India, and you can see that they have done their share of partnerships with some of the mainstream cricket events over the years. It is mainly a batting simulator where you can play as a bunch of teams at varying difficulties and it also has multiplayer options & leagues if you like to compete against other players.

    They sell a bat accessory that can be used with the Quest 2 controller to give you an easier and more authentic experience. This was in fact something that I picked up during one of my India trips and it really makes the gameplay much better.

    VZFit

    This year, I also picked up a subscription to the VZFit app which can be used with an indoor bike to stay fit. By default they have a fitness experience that you can perform using just the controllers, but the virtual biking is what piqued my interest. The app allows you to bike around different locations in Google Maps using the Streetview images in an immersive form.

    Here’s a sample from one of my rides along the Colorado river:

    There are a bunch of user curated locations that can be quite scenic. Some even come with voiceover to direct your attention to places of interest. They also have regular challenges and leaderboards if you like to compete, and integration with a bunch of online radio stations to keep you entertained. You also have a trainer who can accompany you on a bike and guide you with the workout.

    You mainly need to connect a compatible bluetooth cadence sensor to your Quest headset so that it can detect the bike activity. As for the stationary bike, you can get your own or use one in the gym. I got the Joroto X2 spin bike which seems to be pretty good value. A battery powered clip-on fan can also be pretty handy to keep you cool and also simulate a breeze when you are virtually biking.

    Beat Saber

    Beat Saber is possibly one of the most well known VR games. After all, it’s not every day that you get to dual-wield something akin to light sabers and chop things up with a sound track to match.

    It is basically a virtual rhythm game that has been around for several years where you wield a pair of glowing sabers to cut through approaching blocks which are in sync with a song’s beats and notes. This can give you a really good workout as it also involves ducking and dodging in addition to the hand movements.

    Eleven Table Tennis

    Given the size of the Quest controllers and in hand feel similar to a TT bat, table tennis feels like a natural fit. This was one of the first sports games that I picked up on the Quest, and I have seen this game evolve within a few months of my purchase. Currently it has a host of options ranging from practice to multiplayer with different levels of difficulty.

    The multiplayer part is also pretty interesting and immersive as it can use your Meta avatar for the in game player. It also has voice chat so you can talk to your opponent. The in game Physics is also very realistic due to which you sometimes forget that there is no actual table in front of you.

    Vader Immortal Series

    This is a 3 episode game on the Quest, and doesn’t actually need you to move around as much as the other sports games that I have mentioned. However, if you are a Star Wars fan, this is pretty much a must try game as it gives you your fill of light saber fighting sequences starting a training involving with those mini floating droids and leading up to enemy fights standing beside Darth Vader.

    If you loved the Jedi Knight series on the computer or one of the recent Star Wars games involving Jedi, then this is pretty much a no brainer to try out. Oh, and you do get to use the force push/pull powers as well.

  • Gearing up for the last teenage year

    Gearing up for the last teenage year

    The blog turns 19 next year, and this seemed like a good time to give it an updated theme with a more info dense home page. Ended up selecting the Twenty Twenty-Five theme by WordPress which has a pretty clean look and offers the current design trends.

    I also upgraded to the Premium plan which offers Google Analytics connection and ad free browsing experience for the visitors. Followed it up with some back-end admin activities to fix the search engine indexing and adding domain verification with Facebook, Pinterest and Bing to go with the Google verification.

    As I shared earlier, I will be posting more frequently on the site and also experimenting with some additional formats like streaming, podcasts and video. If you have any suggestions for topics for me to cover or want to collab, do drop me a note or leave a comment below.

    Do subscribe to keep up with the posts.

  • Dubai Diaries: The Dubai move and Golden Visa

    Dubai Diaries: The Dubai move and Golden Visa

    It’s been exactly 2 years since I joined my regional role in Boehringer Ingelheim in Dubai. I rarely blog about my personal life, but I thought now would be a good time to share some of the experiences around this move.

    The move to Dubai was in itself fairly straight forward as it was through an internal move. I started off with a regular employment based residence visa valid for 2 years. My family also relocated in the middle of last year, and their visas were completed through the office pretty quickly.

    Since my visa was due for renewal this year, I decided to opt for the UAE Golden Visa for salaried professionals which has a relatively easier qualification qualification criteria than the others:

    • Monthly gross salary of AED 30,000 or higher (that seems to be the current consensus, as I have also read of it being the basic salary without allowances in the past)
    • Bachelor’s degree or higher
      • Getting the equivalency certificate for this is typically the most time consuming process

    While my application was managed by my office in DIFC which definitely helped with the clarity around the process, I did find this recent Reddit post by the Amer Centre quite helpful and along with this article in Khaleej Times that explains the process and documentation requirements. I am sharing a simple guide to get the necessary documents ready based on my experience.

    Step by step guide

    The overall process took about 2 months for me, out of which the first 3 weeks went in getting the degree equivalency certificate, followed by 2 weeks for the degree physical attestation and about 2 weeks for the actual visa application, health checkup & Emirates ID issuance.

    You need digitized versions of the following key documents for the application (some like the equivalency certificate require additional documents for the verification) in addition to other documents from your employer:

    • Degree equivalency certificate
    • Bank statement showing the salary credit each month
    • Attested degree certificate (UAE Embassy in university country and MOFA in UAE)
    • NOC from company
    • Current passport and visa
    • Current passport sized photo (white background, no glasses – you can tell the photo studio for the Emirates ID or visa version)

    The equivalency certificate

    Getting the degree equivalency certificate is usually the bottleneck in this process, based on the experience of my colleagues and those who have shared their experience online.

    The process is as below with details on the Ministry site here (they also have a useful document checklist that you can refer to):

    Typically you would need your original degree certificate, the final transcript (official stamped marksheet for the entire duration of the course) and your passport copy. You need to choose one of the official partners (Dataflow or Quadrabay at the moment) for the verification and share these documents with them. It costs around AED 350 for this part of the process.

    The turnaround time is slated to be 30 days, but is completely dependent on the response time of the university. Here are a couple of tips to help speed up the process which worked for me:

    • Keep the details of your university alumni association and key academic departments handy.
    • Once the initial documents have been verified by the partner and sent to the university, if you do not get any update within a couple of weeks check in with the customer support for details regarding the communication with the university.
      • I managed to get the details of the email subject line and the department to which they had mailed this way.
    • Contact the alumni association or academic department with the details you got regarding the verification communication to nudge it along.

    Once the verification process is successfully completed, you will get the notification to complete the application on the Ministry site with the appropriate link. There is another payment involved, and the certificate is generated almost immediately. This completes the most time consuming part of the application.

    Degree attestation and next steps

    The next few steps are quite straight forward, and you could even get the degree attestation done while you are waiting for the verification to happen. You will of course need the physical degree certificate for this, and use an agency like VFS (they have an attestation helpline that you can mail here) to get this done in 2-3 weeks with doorstep pickup and drop-off.

    Once you have these documents you can go ahead with the actual visa application. A few additional tips:

    • In the bank statement (an online statement download should be fine), highlight the salary deposits and make sure that your name & account details are there on every page & highlight those as well.
    • If you are immediately transferring your salary to another account after the deposit, you may need to provide the statement from the other account as well.
    • The photo you submit will be used in the visa and Emirates ID, so you can ask the photo studio to take it accordingly.
    • You will probably be given a slot for the health checkup, but depending on your location you may be able to walk in for the checkup much earlier.
    • Ensure that you are setup on UAE pass so that the authentication on the partner sites is easier.
    • Setup your ICP app as well do that you can access the digital versions of your visa and updated Emirates ID. This uses UAE pass as well for login.
    • Depending on how you have applied, you may need to get the new Emirates ID re-issued.
    • You will need to transfer your dependents’ visas at some point in time as well.

    Hope this helped you, and wish you the best with your Golden Visa application! If this gets a good response, I’ll share some of my experiences and learnings around the Dubai relocation.