Trend
Framing the big-picture shift reshaping how business gets done.
Slide decks are losing their monopoly on decision-making.
Today’s sharpest ideas aren’t landing in polished decks. They’re showing up as clickable flows, AI-generated demos, Notion boards, Loom videos, and working prototypes built overnight. It's not about perfection. It's about momentum.
The shift? Show, don’t tell.
What used to be explained now gets experienced.
This shift is fueld by vibe coding, a term coined by Andrej Karpathy (former Tesla AI lead) in a viral X post a few short months ago. It refers to using AI and no-code tools to quickly turn raw thinking into something tangible. Not fully built. Just real enough to feel inevitable.
Adoption is accelerating:
In this pace, the demo comes before the deck.
The pitch is a working prototype.
The meeting is a live walkthrough.
The idea hits before the explanation.
Slide decks still have their place.
They just aren’t necessarily where the real work begins.
Signal
Fresh, real-world moves from companies responding to the trend.
What started as a tool for coders is now quietly rewriting how strategy and ideas move from the startup floor to the C-suite:
Satya Nadella (Google CEO) publicly demoed how execs prototype ideas with AI tools, no slides required.
Garry Tan says 25% of Y Combinator startups now go straight to product, skipping roadmaps altogether.
Google’s Opal, introduced by Product Director Madhu Gurumurthy, turns plain text into live UI prototypes. It's built for engineers, but his message was clear: PMs are next.
Skills are adapting:
Startup to Scaleup now teaches founders to ditch decks for shareable vibe-coded MVPs.
The Founder Institute runs bootcamps on “vibe coding”, training leaders to communicate ideas through interactive flows, not slides.
Inside larger firms, early adopters are skipping the slideshow too. People Analytics and UX teams are co-creating rough dashboards and prototype workflows using tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, aligning faster, with fewer meetings.
PowerPoint isn’t obsolete, but it’s no longer the only way leaders move ideas forward.
Spark
A provocative 'what if' that stretches strategic thinking forward.
What if teams spent less time refining decks, and more time refining the concept?
What if alignment came faster because the strategy was experienced, not explained?
What if your next big idea didn’t need a 30-slide pitch, but just 90 seconds of clarity?
In high-velocity environments, the edge won’t come from how well you present. It will come from how clearly you think - and how quickly others can feel it.
Strategy
Turning future signals into decisive advantage.
▸ Invite teams to share the sketch, not the finished product
▸ Create digital space for fast idea expression (Figma, Notion, Loom, Gamma, Sora, Replit)
▸ Rethink review gates: does this need a full plan, or just a quick concept walkthrough?
▸ Train execs to spot strategic clarity beyond bullet points
▸ Reframe internal comms: less pitch, more prototype
Stewardship
A reflection on the legacy of your strategic choices and the future they shape.
Vibe coding is speeding up how ideas and strategy move - but it’s also testing our trust.
Stack Overflow’s 2025 survey of 50,000 developers found that only 33% trust the accuracy of AI coding, down from 43% in 2024. Favorability toward adding AI into workflows also fell sharply, from 72% to 60%. Meanwhile, 40% of junior developers admit deploying AI-generated code they don’t fully understand (Deloitte).
How do you lead when speed outpaces confidence? How do you adopt vibe coding fast enough to win, without eroding trust?
As ideas take new forms, how do you protect quality without slowing momentum?
The challenge goes beyond just the tech. It’s culture. Leaders must balance speed with trust, empowering teams to move fast - and think deeply.
Closing that gap is this era’s true leadership test.
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People illustrations by Storyset.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization I am affiliated with.