Also at FAANG. I think I am using the tools more than my peers based on my conversations. The first few times I tried our AI tooling, it was extremely hit and miss. But right around December the tooling improved a lot, and is a lot more effective. I am able to make prototypes very quickly. They are seldom check-in ready, but I can validate assumptions and ideas. I also had a very positive experience where the LLM pointed out a key flaw in an API I had been designing, and I was able to adjust it before going further into the process.

Once the plan is set, using the agentic coder to create smaller CLs has been the best avenue for me. You don't want to generate code faster than you and your reviewers can comprehend it. It'll feel slow, but check ins actually move faster.

I will say it's not all magic and success. I have had the AI lead me down some dark corners, assuring me one design would work when actually it is a bit outdated or not quite the right fit for the system we are building for because of reasons. So, I wouldn't really say that it's a 10x multiplier or anything, but I'm definitely getting things done faster than I could on my own. Expertise on the part of the user is still crucial.

One classic issue I used to run into, is doing a small refactor and then having to manually fix a bunch of tests. It is so much simpler to ask the LLM to move X from A to B and fix any test failures. Then I circle back in a few minutes to review what was done and fix any issues.

The other thing is, it has visibility for the wider code base, including some of our infrastructure that we're dependent on. There have been a couple times in the past quarter where our build is busted by an external team, and I am able to ask the LLM given the timeframe and a description of the issue, the exact external failure that caused it. I don't really know how long it would have taken to resolve the issue otherwise, since the issues were missed by their testing. That said, I gotta wonder if those breakages were introduced by LLM use.

My job hasn't been this fun in a long, long time and I am a little uneasy about what these tools are going to mean for my personal job security, but I don't know how we can put the genie back into the bottle at this point.