Which trade-offs matter for our digital event launch?

AI-assisted coding can extend a development team's capacity under deadline pressure, but it still needs the team's skills and judgment. In "Cracking the code: How AI is transforming high-pressure digital development", lead developer Sergio Agosti describes a build that had to go live for a major global event. With limited time and many unknowns, the team used AI tools to deliver a vision that a traditional development process could not realistically have completed on schedule. Agosti describes the tools as an extra junior developer, amplifying rather than replacing the team's skills. For an event launch, treat AI as additional production capacity, not a substitute for experienced developers responsible for the build.

The intended lifespan of a digital experience should shape how much technical debt is acceptable at launch. In the event build described by Sergio Agosti in "Cracking the code: How AI is transforming high-pressure digital development", AI accelerated tasks and reduced time spent consulting libraries and documentation. The initial codebase, however, was bloated, repetitive and difficult to maintain. Rather than structuring code for reuse, the tools duplicated it, creating code that worked immediately but could slow later development. Agosti argues that the compromise may matter little for a short-lived project but matters substantially for something permanent. Decide whether the launch is a temporary activation or a lasting experience before accepting speed at the expense of maintainability.