Vibe coding: the hidden risks and how leaders can build resilience

It’s clear that AI is now deeply embedded in the way organisations operate, with a recent report from Tech Radar stating over 60% of businesses are using artificial intelligence worldwide, and its use is accelerating fast as businesses look for a sharper, quicker way to work. Nowhere is this shift more visible than in software development, where AI-assisted coding tools are reshaping how applications are created. Developers can produce code faster than ever, moving from concept to execution at exceptional speed. This has ushered in what many describe as the era of ‘vibe coding’, a style of development where rapid delivery often comes before structure and oversight. As this pace increases, business leaders need to ask a critical question: what happens if the vendors, developers or AI models behind these systems fail or become unavailable?  

Vibe coding enables rapid creation of software with very little friction. AI tools such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot now play a central role in writing code, updating legacy systems and testing new ideas. This has accelerated innovation, but it has also changed how software is built. Documentation, version control and clear architectural decisions were once essential disciplines to ensure software could be maintained, rebuilt and improved over time. Under vibe coding, these disciplines are increasingly overlooked. As a result, organisations may be left with systems that work today but depend entirely on the people, suppliers and AI models that created them. 

Why vibe coding is thriving 

Part of vibe coding’s appeal is ease of use. AI tools allow developers to experiment quickly and produce new features in seconds. For fast moving companies, this can be a significant advantage. The challenge is that speed does not guarantee resilience. When the build process is not recorded, when dependencies are unclear and when decisions exist only in the memory of a developer or an AI system, the business loses control. 

Vibe coding is also changing vendor relationships too, with organisations increasingly relying on small, specialised suppliers or even single developer projects that use AI to accelerate delivery. These suppliers often provide value at speed, but they do not always have the long term continuity planning required for enterprise resilience. If such a supplier stops trading, changes strategy or withdraws support, organisations may find themselves with software that cannot be re-created. 

This is more than a minor technical inconvenience. In fact, it’s an operational exposure. If a vendor, developer or AI model becomes unavailable, leaders must be confident that they can rebuild the systems their organisation depends on. For many, that confidence is not yet there. 

AI-assisted and vibe-coded applications often struggle to meet the standards required for independent replication. Missing documentation, unclear dependency chains and inconsistent build processes can all remain hidden until a disruption occurs. The systems may work now, but they may not survive a supplier failure or a major change in the AI tools that produced them. 

The role of software escrow in resilience and software integrity 

Software escrow will be unfamiliar to many leadership teams, but it is becoming an essential component of software resilience. It provides an independent and structured mechanism to ensure that code and all supporting materials are complete, documented and usable if a supplier is unable to continue supporting an application. Through software escrow verification, organisations can test whether an application can be rebuilt and operated without relying on the original developer or vendor. This is especially important when AI has played a major role in development, because build steps, technical decisions and dependencies may not be captured anywhere else. 

Software escrow also improves transparency within the software estate, where verification can reveal the all important gaps in the creation and documentation process. These findings give leadership teams something they rarely have today: a clear, evidence-based understanding of how their software actually works and what risks sit within it. In practical terms, this means organisations can strengthen weak points before they become real live issues.  

For clients, software escrow provides confidence that the systems they depend on are not black boxes, but assets they can understand, control and recreate if necessary. In a development landscape increasingly shaped by AI, this clarity and control is becoming a fundamental part of responsible software governance. 

A leadership and culture challenge 

For leadership teams, the challenge is both cultural and technical, and innovation and resilience must now be addressed together. Boards and executives overseeing digital transformation must recognise that their software estate, increasingly shaped by AI and external vendors, forms part of their core operational infrastructure. It requires clear governance, documentation and ongoing oversight. 

The organisations that will succeed in this new era of AI-driven development will be those whose leaders view continuity and control as foundations of innovation. Independent verification and clear documentation do not slow progress; they make progress sustainable. 

Vibe coding reflects the ambition and momentum of modern software development, but long-term success depends on something more disciplined. Leaders need confidence that their systems can be rebuilt, maintained and evolved. Software escrow provides a pathway to that confidence and helps organisations understand whether they can rely on the systems they have created. 

It’s clear that new technology, such as AI,  is giving organisations extraordinary creative momentum, but with that comes a new level of responsibility. The true measure of innovation is whether it continues to hold up when the tools and vendors that created it change or disappear.