Daniel Saks
Chief Executive Officer
"In the future, coding might not require you to code at all." This bold prediction is quickly moving from wishful thinking to reality. As a tech entrepreneur and CEO, I've spent my career building platforms to empower creators. I’ve watched the evolution of software development from hand-written code, to drag-and-drop low-code tools, to today’s explosion of no-code platforms driven by natural language. The trajectory is clear: we are shifting from coding with syntax to coding by conversation. In this article, I’ll share why natural language is becoming the new “developer platform” – enabling anyone to build, how it’s changing the role of professional developers, and what this means for businesses. My goal is to paint a visionary yet grounded picture of this shift, rooted in my journey and values of democratization, practical innovation, and trust.
Not long ago, creating software meant poring over text files and writing every semicolon by hand. Then came visual IDEs and low-code platforms – easier, but you still needed some programming know-how. Now we’re entering an era where you can build software by simply talking to your computer. Platforms like Replit are already proving this: “Today on Replit, anyone can take their ideas and turn them into software — no coding required.”(2) Thanks to AI copilots, you “don’t need to learn coding to be a creator — you just need an idea.”(2) In practice, this means everyday users can describe an app or website they envision, and watch an AI generate the code, fix the bugs, and even deploy it. This isn’t sci-fi; it’s happening now. Replit’s recently launched AI Agent lets you create a working app from a chat conversation, treating software development like a casual dialogue(2).
We see the same trend in content and data domains. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT have hundreds of millions of users now comfortably “programming” by asking questions or giving instructions in plain English. In fact, ChatGPT reached 100 million users within two months of launch (the fastest-growing app in history)(1) – a clear sign that natural language interfaces have gone mainstream. People are using chatbots to draft documents, build spreadsheets, even generate code, all by conversing instead of wrangling syntax.
This shift is redefining who gets to build. It’s not just engineers anymore – it’s anyone with an idea. We built Landbase’s new VibeGTM interface with exactly that in mind. Instead of configuring complex marketing software, a small business owner can simply describe their target audience and goals – e.g. “I want to reach mid-size retail companies in California with a promotion for my SaaS product” – and our AI agents will generate a full, multi-channel sales campaign to match(4). Landbase’s platform essentially lets users launch professional-grade campaigns by describing the outcome they want, rather than by clicking through endless settings. This is the power of moving from coding to conversing: building things by stating your intent in natural language. The barrier to create is coming way down, unleashing creativity for those who never thought they could “code.”
When technology democratizes creation, it empowers whole new groups of builders. I’ve seen teachers generating educational games without writing a line of code, marketers crafting interactive web pages by chatting with an AI, and consultants automating their workflows through simple prompts. The use cases span every domain. Replit’s community offers a glimpse: from local realtors in Cleveland to Japanese influencers to product managers at Fortune 500s, people are building incredible things on Replit – proving we no longer need to limit ourselves to being users of software; we can all be creators(2). This includes professions far outside traditional IT. A real estate agent can “ask” an AI to build a lead-tracking dashboard. A non-profit can have an AI spin up a fundraising campaign page. A teacher can get a custom quiz app generated for their class. All using natural language instead of waiting for a developer or learning programming themselves.
The data backs up this mainstream adoption. Generative AI has rapidly infiltrated daily workflows – just consider ChatGPT’s 100M+ user explosion as mentioned earlier. And industry analysts predict that by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies (up from just 25% in 2020)(6). In other words, building software with little to no traditional coding is becoming the norm, not the exception. This is empowering a new generation of “citizen developers.” They are teachers, marketers, small business owners, analysts – people who have deep knowledge of their domain’s needs, now empowered to create solutions for those needs without a technical intermediary.
With an agentic AI platform, “Landbase is uniquely suited for non-technical B2B users — like realtors, consultants, MSPs — who need growth but don’t have in-house marketing teams. Our agents don’t just recommend; they act.”(5) In practice, that means a consultant with a new service offering can log into Landbase and, in plain language, outline their ideal customer profile and campaign idea. The AI will handle the heavy lifting – from building prospect lists to writing personalized outreach – tasks that previously only a team of specialists could do. By turning ideas into action without a single line of code or a single hire, these tools level the playing field. This is practical innovation: technology making things that used to be hard (or expensive) remarkably easy. Most importantly, it’s innovation in service of people– giving everyone the capability to build and grow. We’re witnessing a true democratization of software creation.
So where does this leave professional developers? In a world where anyone can build with natural language, are engineers still needed? Absolutely. In fact, I’d argue developers are more important than ever – but their role is evolving. Rather than spending their days wrestling with syntax and boilerplate, developers are becoming curators, coaches, and quality guardians for AI-generated solutions. Their deep expertise is critical to guide these powerful new tools in the right direction.
Think of an AI as an eager junior engineer who can generate solutions at lightning speed. You still need a senior engineer to review the work, catch the edge cases, and ensure it fits the broader strategy. Developers now act like coaches for AI teammates: setting high-level objectives, providing feedback, and making judgment calls. They’re the ones who ensure the product meets requirements, is secure, and performs well – things an AI might not fully grasp without human oversight. As an IBM AI advocate recently put it, an AI can crank out code, “but true creativity, goal alignment and out-of-the-box thinking remain uniquely human”, so human input and oversight is essential(3). I often remind my team of this balancing act. Yes, let the AI do the grunt work, but a human expert should always be in the loop to validate and refine.
In practice, this means the developer’s job feels less like being a code monkey and more like being a project lead or architect. You might spend more time crafting the right prompt or conversation with an AI, and less time writing low-level functions from scratch. You might orchestrate multiple AI agents (one generating code, another generating test cases, etc.) and make sure they all produce a coherent outcome. It’s a shift from keyboard-heavy coding to a higher-level form of development. But it’s a shift that many developers welcome – it automates the repetitive work and frees them to focus on design, innovation, and solving novel problems. We still need their ingenuity and problem-solving more than ever; we’re just letting the machines handle the tedious parts.
Crucially, this approach preserves trust in the software we build. We often say at Landbase, “relationships and trust still matter… We’re creating technology that enhances the human element rather than replacing it.”(4) I view developers as the ambassadors of that human element in the creation process. They ensure the solutions delivered by AI are ones we (and our customers) can trust – well-crafted, ethically sound, and aligned with real user needs. In short, developers remain vital, but now as mentors and editors working alongside AI “assistants.” It’s a collaboration between human and machine, each doing what they do best.
Why does all this matter for businesses and organizations? In a word: leverage. Embracing natural language interfaces – letting people build software or execute tasks by describing what they want – unlocks huge advantages:
We’ve built Landbase around these very principles. Our platform’s agentic AI system acts like a virtual go-to-market team member for each client. It crunches data, writes copy, and executes outreach at machine speed – but always in service of the goals the human user sets. The outcome: our customers have seen up to 80% lower execution costs and 4–7× higher conversion rates compared to traditional approaches(5). In other words, natural language + AI isn’t just a cool tech demo; it’s driving real ROI. It enables “minutes, not months” execution and a level of personalization and scale that manual efforts can’t match(4). I truly believe we’re headed toward a future where every salesperson, every analyst, every manager has their own AI builder on demand – a future where telling your computer what you want is all it takes to make it happen.
Of course, we must implement these tools thoughtfully. Governance, security, and training are key so that NLIs are used responsibly. But with the right guardrails (for example, our VibeGTM interface lets users guide the AI within safe bounds for compliance(5)), the benefits far outweigh the risks. The organizations that leverage natural language platforms now will outpace those that don’t – delivering solutions faster, responding to customers quicker, and fostering a culture where everyone can innovate.
The writing is on the wall (or perhaps in the prompt): natural language interfaces are transforming how we build and who gets to do it. This is a shift I’m personally passionate about, because it aligns with something I’ve long believed – technology should be an equalizer, not a barrier. When I started Landbase, it was with the mission of making advanced go-to-market capabilities accessible to businesses that lack big teams or budgets. More broadly, I see natural language as the interface that can make technology accessible to all, much like the graphical user interface did a generation ago.
So I invite you to experience this shift for yourself. Give natural language building a try – you might be surprised how far you can get with just your words. In fact, we’ve made it easy to experiment: try Landbase’s free VibeGTM interface (our AI go-to-market platform) by building something small. For example, describe a simple prospecting sequence, a landing page idea, or a campaign brief you’d like to execute – using only natural language – and see the platform generate it. It’s free to get started (just a URL and an email) and you’ll get a feel for what working alongside an AI “co-pilot” is like. My hunch is that once you see a campaign spin up from a few chat prompts, you’ll understand why I’m so excited about this future.
Natural language isn’t here to replace the keyboard, and certainly not to replace the brilliant people behind it. But it is here to remove friction and invite more people into the creative process. We’ll always need the enterprising engineer, the imaginative marketer, the strategic salesperson – that won’t change. What will change (indeed, is already changing) is the interface between their ideas and reality. In that interface, the keyboard may no longer be the star of the show. In fact, the most powerful key on it might soon be “Enter.”
References:
Tool and strategies modern teams need to help their companies grow.
