David Heinemeier Hansson announces AI-first coding at 37signals

At the Rails World 2026 conference, David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) announced that his company, 37signals, has transitioned to using AI agents as its default tool for code generation. DHH stated that writing code by hand has become an “exceptional state” for the company, noting that he has written half as much code over the last twenty months compared to the previous twenty-one months.

DHH compared the impact of AI to the release of the Kodak Brownie camera, suggesting it marks a fundamental shift in the trajectory of software development. He noted that AI agents lack the emotional attachment humans have to code, allowing for more efficient iteration through new sessions.

While the shift toward AI-driven development is driven by cost and efficiency, some industry observers remain cautious. Critics argue that while LLMs reduce the cost of specialized performance work, they may lead to issues with experimental design or overfitting benchmarks. There are also concerns regarding the architectural integrity of code generated by non-experts, a challenge 37signals previously encountered during early attempts at “vibe-coding.”