PAHLabs

My evolving thoughts on Code Agents, (Not AI these are separate things)

My first playing with AI and Coding, I must admit, left me feeling “dirty”, like I was cheating, or copping out. But this has changed int the past two weeks of using Claude Code. For those who have never used a Coding Agent, Claude is a Coding agent, it is not an AI, It leverages an AI, but it is a Coding Agent, it does NOT draw or make images, it’s not trying to befriend you, or blow smoke. It is a highly skilled and knowledgeable developer who is in need if immense guidance.

In using this tool, I’ve come to realize some truth’s about what “it” is and about what my roll has been in the companies I’ve work for, over my lifetime. I’ve thought long and hard on this discovering some hidden, maybe ignored, facts about programmers role and ITs role in business. It is not that pretty.

I was taught, and told and over that our job was to make users life easier, make them more productive, and better employees. Our constant Axiom we told them was “The only constant in life, is Change” I must have told to countless Accountants, it was always Okay, cause it was I who was bringing change to them, I saw my “Change” to them was helping them. Of course the changes to my world were new computers, better languages, tools to use to help my users, so in reality not so much change/upheaval but improvement, a better-ing if you will.

I’ve had several “curious” times that raised a few doubts to the belief, When I was At Coastal Oil and Gas in the 80’s for an accounting department to get a PC (yes the old 8088’s they were New!) they had to eliminate 1 employee. At first I thought this was a rumor, but no. It did happened over and over. I was confronted by one of my older clients a late 50’s accountant, who once asked he how do I sleep at night, as we rolled out Lotus 123, replacing his lifetime of using green bar tablets, pencils and calculators. I explained how much better his life would be, truly believing it. When I was at Marathon Oil, the single largest division of the company with more that 600-700 employees was IT, and I was proud management thought us that important. Not really thinking about the massive investment this must have been, or how its benefit could offset the tremendous cost? Or What was the benefit?

I’ve been reevaluating all this these past few weeks and come to some conclusions. First and most notably I was Wrong. Dead Wrong. Yes our job in Corporate America has been for all time a Managerial investment in Hardware and Software and people to Eliminate Employees, lower budget & benefits costs to the corporation. We, IT, made employee’s more productive so more and more of them can be eliminated from the payroll. This was quite evident in my final 10-15 years as contractor, who company sold, in stalled, configured software to client companies, where our expense was 150% offset by their ability to reduce or eliminate staff – the selling point.

So hows does all this come back to Claude Code? What I’ve come to realize is that Coding Agents like Claude Code are just the Next Technological leap that now makes Programmers more efficient and better, the First leap that affects US as Programmers, as we have affected all, other departments in all corporations since in invention of Computers. I now understand that old accountant’s question much better. And honestly, I still answer with “Change is the Only Constant in life”. And I follow that up with the adage “What goes around eventually comes around.”

My heart felt hope is for developers to embrace and go with this new technology, your alternatives will dwindle faster than you realize.

This has been the realization that I have concluded about coding agents.