Should NZ Become a 'Vibe' Nation?

"Vibe coding" sounds like a meme to most outside the AI circle. And it is. But like most internet memes, it’s also hiding a real shift.

Coined by Karpathy in Feb 2025, vibe coding refers to a new way of building software. Not through lines of code, but by speaking ideas into existence via AI assistants. You have an idea, describe it simply, and the tool gets you most of the way there. You adjust a few things, try again, and suddenly you’ve built something useful, all without needing to know how to code.

In global forums and GitHub threads, vibe coding has already overtaking "prompt engineering" in popularity. Not because it’s technically better, but because it’s accessible. It makes building feel possible, in particular for non-technical people.

Vibe coding started as a niche term but quickly went viral. Not because it was revolutionary in technique, but because it gave people a name for something they could finally do: build and tinker without technical gatekeeping. It’s less about replacing developers and more about giving everyone else a seat at the table.

And that’s where the shift begins. Because once you’ve built your first thing (whether it’s a report, a chatbot, or a dashboard) you stop thinking like a consumer of tools and start thinking like a builder, focusing on solving problems.

What started as vibe coding has morphed into something bigger: a full-blown cultural shift in how we get work done.

The "vibe era" is about how work gets done, and by who. It’s a cultural reset. A mindset that values momentum over perfection, tries before it asks, and treats tools as collaborators instead of barriers.

This mindset is spreading across three major areas: analysis, marketing and software development. And while "vibe" anything might sound cringe, it could be exactly what’s needed in New Zealand to cut through apathy, overcome adoption fatigue, and bring AI into the hands of everyday people.

I'll cover these three vibe areas, followed by how this new era will shape business teams and could give New Zealand entities the shot of adrenaline needed to grow.

Vibe analysis is emerging as a major unlock for teams drowning in data but starved of insight. Vibe analysis flips the script on traditional analytics. Dan Hockenmaier recently released his write up all about Vibe Analysis.

Where old-school analysis was slow, technical, and reserved for trained data teams, vibe analysis is fast, intuitive, and open to anyone curious enough to ask the right question.

The tools have changed. You no longer need to structure queries, prepare dashboards, or wait in the analytics queue. Now, you can just ask:

And the AI answers: not with a wall of numbers, but with usable, visual insight. This isn't magic. Rather, this is a new workflow.

Vibe analysis isn’t about replacing analysts. It’s about giving non-analysts access to that analytical power. It’s about frontline teams like founders, marketers, product managers being able to explore data directly and make decisions without being blocked by bandwidth or BI limitations.

The key traits:

Instead of needing a BI team or analyst queue, a founder, salesperson, or product manager can explore insights instantly. The vibe here is speed, accessibility, and self-serve clarity, not just charts and queries.

As Dan Hockenmaier wrote, “You could just… talk to your data. You could vibe with it". That means fewer meetings, faster answers, and better decisions made closer to the edge.

Forbes defines Vibe Marketing as “the energy your brand gives off. It’s about tuning into your audience’s tone, mood and behaviour". Defining the vibe is just the start. Successful Vibe Marketing depends on extending that “vibe” consistently across all touchpoints and interactions.

In traditional organisations, this can be hard to achieve across all channels. This is where AI comes in. It helps make Vibe Marketing agile and scalable. Not just automating, but refining, adapting, and learning what works in real time.

Previously, this kind of emotional consistency across every customer touchpoint required a full agency, a design team, and weeks of back-and-forth sign-offs. Now, one person can:

This adds an automation layer that makes the work not just faster, but self-improving. It's not just AI-enhanced creativity, it's end-to-end campaign delivery, driven by a single person with the right stack. It means you’re no longer starting from scratch. You’re building off what works, using AI to remix, refine and repeat. Over time, the emotional tone becomes repeatable, and recognisable.

Think about a furniture brand that wants to feel “warm, human, and helpful". With vibe marketing:

The difference now is AI makes this easy to do at scale.

James Dickerson is the go to in this space with his Vibe Marketer community.

The heart of the shift still sits with vibe coding: using natural language to build software.

What we’re seeing isn’t just a new coding trend, it’s the democratisation of development:

This shift unlocks capability where there wasn’t any before. It reduces the need to hire external agencies. It shrinks the cost of digital innovation. And it opens up new revenue lines for teams willing to build and resell their tools.

Let's be real though. GenAI coding tools can’t do everything a developer can. But when you’re moving fast and just need to test an idea, they’re a game-changer.

This is more about rewriting how teams operate than it is about tools. Tools are just the enablers.

Traditional orgs were built around functions: marketing here, product there, engineering somewhere else. But in the vibe era, that structure is collapsing. The old silos are too slow, too rigid, and too expensive.

Instead, we're seeing a shift toward multi-skilled, AI-assisted pods, made up of AI-native workers:

“Tighter conduits for decision making and synthesising information are an incredible advantage,” Scott Belsky (top tech writer) notes, and that’s exactly what these vibe focused roles create. The talent stack is collapsing, and that’s a good thing. When the person who has the idea is also the person who can ship it, momentum increases. Vision sharpens. Time to value shrinks.

Even management is becoming hybrid (part human, part AI) with AI handling reporting, reminders, drafting and coordination, while humans focus on creativity, judgment and strategy.

This is where Aotearoa shines. We’ve always punched above our weight because we’re generalists by default. We say yes, then figure it out. We’re not precious about job titles or strict divisions of labour, we just get on with it. And that’s exactly the kind of operating model the vibe era demands.

It wasn’t always seen as a strength. I remember going overseas and being asked: “What exactly are you good at?” And realising that “digital marketing manager” didn’t cut it in foreign markets. It was too broad, blurry, and vague.

But in a AI world, that versatility is the edge.

We’ve heard of T-shaped operators (broad across many areas within a function like marketing, but very deep in one). Others are V-shaped operators (a few areas of depth within a function, still able to flex horizontally). But the next evolution is simpler and more powerful: the vibe-shaped employee.

This isn’t a shape you map on a CV. It’s more a mindset and a way of working. It’s someone who can ship an idea end-to-end, powered by the right stack and the right instincts. Not bound by role. Not slowed by hierarchy. Just… shipping.

And if you’ve ever worked with a Kiwi team, you know exactly what that looks like.

As Scott Belsky wrote in Collapsing the Talent Stack, Persona-Led Growth & Designing Organizations for the Future, “The time has come to refactor every function of a company with AI".

That refactor doesn’t need a 12-month roadmap. In New Zealand, we can do it next week. Our size, our mindset, and our culture make us perfect for this moment.

The vibe era is more than a cultural shift, it’s a way to get more done with less.

We can move faster, test ideas on the fly, and ship things without layers of sign-off. That’s gold for a country built on small businesses. What used to feel scrappy is now a strength.

This approach means higher revenue per person, lower costs, and faster output. While big companies overseas debate strategy, we can just get on with it.

Vibe coding might sound like a meme, but it’s really about unlocking new capability and momentum. We don’t need to mimic the world’s biggest markets. We just need to back our pace, creativity, and resourcefulness, which is what Kiwis are generally above average at.