Introduction

Hello everyone! I'm Ryan, CTO at airCloset Inc.

You've probably been hearing the term "vibe coding" a lot lately, right? It's a revolutionary development method where you can generate code just by telling AI in natural language something like "make it like this~". Honestly, it's incredibly convenient.

But this is exactly why I want to say: Engineers should come to the office.

"What? Why would we need to come to the office when AI writes code for us?"

I get it. But actually, I'm convinced that in the vibe coding era, real-time communication is what accelerates business speed exponentially.

Today, from my experience as a CTO, I want to share my thoughts on why coming to the office is crucial in the vibe coding era and how it impacts engineers' careers!

The Vibe Coding Era Accelerates Business Through Office Presence

Shifting from Coding to Strategic Thinking

According to GitHub's latest survey, as of 2025, 41% of all code is AI-generated, and 82% of developers use AI coding assistants weekly or daily. GitHub Copilot alone has 1.3 million paid users, improving developer productivity by 55%. Isn't that amazing?

Actually, I recently used Claude Code to create an automated permission management tool, completing in just 8 hours what would have traditionally taken 2 weeks. Token costs were less than $200. The cost-performance is insane.

But here's the important part: it's not just about "reducing coding time."

According to McKinsey's research, actual coding represents only 10-15% of the software development lifecycle. So what's the remaining 85-90%? It's understanding requirements, system design, and stakeholder communication.

In other words, with AI handling coding, the engineer's role is fundamentally shifting from "How (how to implement)" to "Why (why build it)" and "What (what to build)".

The Importance of Why and What, and Communication

Creating programs itself will increasingly require less manual work from engineers. In this context, I believe the Why and What—why we build and what we build—become more important.

To understand and deepen these aspects requires communication as the highest priority, and being able to talk when you need to becomes increasingly crucial.

The consultation that starts with "Got a minute?" Discussions in front of whiteboards. Ideas born from hallway chats. None of these values can be replicated remotely.

Accelerating Feedback Cycles

To move business forward, it's crucial to rapidly cycle through these four steps:

Develop ideas
Implement
Gain insights
Apply to next improvements

Implementation (step 2) will undoubtedly become dramatically faster. But for the other parts, I believe communication speed directly correlates with cycle speed.

According to Stanford University's large-scale study, hybrid work including 2-3 office days per week achieves 5% higher productivity than fully remote or fully in-office work. Furthermore, joint research by Microsoft, Berkeley, and MIT found that fully remote work reduces cross-departmental collaboration by 25%.

Data-Backed Value of Face-to-Face Communication

Have you heard of MIT Professor Thomas Allen's research, the "Allen Curve"? This research shows that communication frequency between team members dramatically decreases when they're more than 10 meters apart.

"But wait, we have Slack and Teams now!"

You might think that. But what a 2007 follow-up study found was that digital communication tools follow the same pattern. In other words, the more frequently people meet face-to-face, the more actively they communicate on Slack and Teams.

Tech Companies' Return-to-Office Trend

In 2025, interesting movements are happening in the tech industry. According to Resume Builder's survey, 90% of companies are expected to introduce some office attendance requirements.

Amazon: Mandating full 5-day office attendance from January 2025
Google: Continuing 3-day hybrid model
Apple: Requiring 3 days in office

Andy Jassy's CEO memo cites "stronger corporate culture and teamwork" as reasons. This is exactly what the vibe coding era demands.

Impact on Engineering Careers

Interestingly, the questions candidates ask in recent job interviews have changed.

Before: "Can I work remotely?" Now: "How closely can I work with team members?" "How are you utilizing AI?"

The more talented engineers are interested in creating significant value as a team while collaborating with AI. In other words, I believe the value of full-time office engineers will continue to rise.

airCloset's Communication Culture

At airCloset, we've valued communication above all since our founding. Even during COVID, we maintained full office attendance except during emergency declarations.

Systems to Facilitate Communication

Everyone Uses Nicknames We only call each other by nicknames, creating a culture of casual, flat communication. CEO Amanuma is "Ash," I'm "Ryan." New graduate engineers casually approach me saying, "Ryan-san, I have a question about this architecture..." This becomes the foundation for innovation.

Everyone Meeting (All-Hands Meeting) We use 2 hours of everyone's time weekly to share what the CEO is thinking, each group's KPI status, and ongoing projects, ensuring everyone understands the organization's direction and current situation.

Now that development speed has increased with vibe coding, the importance of aligning organizational understanding has grown even more.

Company Retreats We hold retreats twice a year where everyone participates, stepping away from daily work to freely discuss specific themes and build team cohesion.

Engineers, stylists, CS, marketers... members from various roles mix and discuss. Many ideas born there have actually been implemented as new features.

I think this is proof that the close communication and psychological safety created by office attendance maximizes team performance.

Conclusion: The Optimal AI-Human Collaboration Model

The vibe coding era. The era when AI writes code for us.

That's exactly why I think we should focus on what only humans can do. That's deep empathy, creative problem-solving, and above all, creating significant value as a team.

As shown by Google's Project Aristotle, what makes the best teams isn't "who the members are" but "how they cooperate." And what maximizes that cooperation is face-to-face communication.

I believe the value of full-time office engineers will continue to rise. It directly connects to business speed, and that becomes competitive advantage.

The era when AI writes code. That's exactly why engineers who can discuss face-to-face are the strongest.

This is my belief.

Finally

airCloset Inc., where I serve as CTO, is actively recruiting engineers to pioneer the vibe coding era together! If you're interested, please check out airCloset Quest.

We also have a unique recruitment site and an Advent Calendar, so please take a look!

The Office Paradox: Why AI-Powered Coding Demands More Face Time, Not Less