Scale AI billionaire Alexandr Wang says \u201cvibe-coding\u201d is today\u2019s Bill Gates moment\u2014time spent hands-on with AI tools now could compound into a career-defining advantage later. His advice: log thousands of hours experimenting with AI coding assistants and workflows.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are 13 years old, you should spend all of your time vibe-coding. That\u2019s how you should live your life,\u201d the 28-year-old Meta<\/a> chief AI officer said on the TBPN<\/a> podcast, adding that 10,000 hours of deep practice with the tools can become a \u201chuge advantage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The rise of vibe-coding\u00a0<\/p>\n Vibe-coding typically refers to using AI to generate and refine software through natural language prompts, paired with unstructured tinkering to learn the tools\u2019 limits and workflows. Wang argues the mindset mirrors the early grit of founders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg\u2014and that the same \u201cbe there early, go deep\u201d dynamic is unfolding again.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen personal computers first came about, the people who spent the most time with it and grew up with it had this immense advantage in the future economy\u2014like the Bill Gateses, even the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world,\u201d the Gen Z cofounder said. \u201cI think that moment is happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The broader shift in tech\u00a0<\/p>\n Other business leaders from Google and Klarna<\/a> are also embracing vibe-coding as productivity boosters. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna<\/a>, previously said AI programming tools now allow him to build prototypes in just 20 minutes<\/a>, work that used to take weeks of back-and-forth with engineering.<\/p>\n The need for aspiring tech workers to gain more AI skills is also becoming more urgent. With entry-level tech<\/a> jobs shrinking as companies prioritize automation, many young people are increasingly anxious about their future job security.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s actually in some ways this incredible moment of discontinuity,\u201d Wang added. \u201cIf you just happen to spend 10,000 hours playing with the tools and figure out how to use them better than other people, that\u2019s a huge advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n Wang is now leading Meta\u2019s AI superintelligence team\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2022, Wang became the youngest self-made billionaire at 25. His startup, Scale AI, which he launched around age 19, is now valued at about $7 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n This June, Zuckerberg handed him the keys to Meta\u2019s entire AI operation with a $14.3 billion investment<\/a> in Scale AI<\/a>, serving as the company\u2019s first-ever chief AI officer and leading the new superintelligence team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to understate the degree to which I\u2019ve been radicalized by AI coding,\u201d Wang said. \u201cYou just have to figure out how to use the tools maximally.\u201d<\/p>\n