DHH’s New Approach to Coding with AI Agents

**DHH’s New Approach to Coding with AI Agents**

If you’ve followed David Heinemeier Hansson, you probably know him as the creator of *Ruby on Rails* and the co-founder of **37signals**. For years, he’s been vocal about craftsmanship in software. Writing code by hand. Keeping things simple. Valuing small teams.

So it’s genuinely interesting to see him shift.

In a recent conversation, which you can watch here https://youtu.be/JiWgKRgdgpI, DHH talks about moving toward an **agent-first workflow**, letting AI tools take a much more active role in how he builds software.

That’s not a small tweak. That’s a mindset change.

He walks through the evolution of 37signals, from Basecamp to launching **HEY**, and how design has always been treated as a craft inside the company. Designers are not decorators there, they’re builders. That foundation matters, because it explains why this AI shift isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about improving the craft.

Around the midpoint of the discussion, he describes what feels like an inflection point. Instead of writing every line manually, he now collaborates with AI agents. He sets direction. The agent drafts. He reviews, refines, and steers. It’s less like typing every brick into place and more like directing a very fast junior partner who never gets tired.

If you’ve ever wrestled with boilerplate code at midnight, you can probably feel the appeal.

What’s especially thoughtful is how he reflects on junior developers. If AI can generate solid first drafts, what happens to traditional learning paths? That question lingers. At the same time, he points out how developer experience changes when you can iterate faster, explore more ideas, and reduce the grind.

And no, this doesn’t mean smaller teams suddenly disappear. At 37signals, team structure and work-life balance still matter. AI just shifts the leverage.

The bigger picture? Software development is evolving from pure manual craft to guided collaboration with machines. Not replacement. Collaboration.

It’s a subtle but profound shift. And if someone as rooted in programming tradition as DHH is embracing it, it’s worth paying attention.

We’re not moving away from building. We’re just building differently.