Vibe Coding Gets You Started—Original Objective Gets You to Production

Curated by Matt Perry

CTO

From an AI prompt

17 December 2025

The Biggest AI Coding Story of December

On 18th December 2025, Swedish AI platform Lovable announced a staggering $330 million Series B funding round at a $6.6 billion valuation. Led by Google's CapitalG and Menlo Ventures, with backing from Nvidia, Salesforce, Databricks, and Accel, this investment validates a fundamental shift in how software gets built.

Lovable's explosive growth—reaching approximately $200 million in annual recurring revenue—demonstrates the market appetite for "vibe coding": building applications through natural language conversation with AI rather than manually writing code.

For UK small businesses, this matters. Vibe coding platforms democratise software development, enabling non-technical founders to prototype ideas rapidly. However, as we'll explore, getting from prototype to production-ready application requires expertise that AI alone cannot provide.

What Is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding represents a paradigm shift coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy. Instead of learning programming languages, syntax, and frameworks, you describe what you want your application to do in plain English, and AI generates functional code.

How It Works

Platforms like Lovable, Replit, and Cursor integrate large language models with development environments:

• Natural Language Input: "Create a booking system with calendar integration and email confirmations"
• AI Code Generation: The platform generates complete application code, including databases, user interfaces, and business logic
• Immediate Testing: See your application running in real-time as AI builds it
• Iterative Refinement: Describe changes conversationally: "Add payment processing" or "Make the calendar responsive on mobile"

This dramatically reduces the barrier to entry. Where traditional development required months of learning and coding, vibe coding platforms enable functional prototypes in hours.

The Promise: Speed and Accessibility

Vibe coding excels at specific use cases:

Rapid Prototyping

Test business ideas without significant development investment. Build minimum viable products to validate concepts with real users before committing to full development.

Internal Tools

Create dashboards, admin panels, and workflow automation for internal teams where polish matters less than functionality.

Learning and Experimentation

Non-technical founders can understand what's possible, communicate effectively with developers, and make informed technical decisions.

Standard Use Cases

For common patterns—landing pages, basic CRUD applications, simple booking systems—AI training data is abundant, producing reliable results.

The Reality: Where Vibe Coding Falls Short

Despite the impressive funding and growth, vibe coding platforms face fundamental limitations for production applications:

Security Vulnerabilities

AI-generated code requires thorough security auditing. Common vulnerabilities include:

• SQL injection and XSS vulnerabilities
• Insecure authentication implementations
• Exposed API keys and credentials
• Missing input validation and sanitisation
• Inadequate data encryption

Production applications handling customer data, payments, or sensitive information need security expertise beyond AI capabilities.

Performance and Scalability

AI optimises for working code, not efficient code. Production issues include:

• Inefficient database queries causing slowdowns under load
• Memory leaks in long-running processes
• Poor caching strategies
• Unoptimised asset delivery
• Lack of proper indexing and query optimisation

Applications that work perfectly with 10 test users often collapse with 1,000 real users.

Code Quality and Maintainability

AI-generated code frequently exhibits:

• Inconsistent architectural patterns
• Duplicated logic across components
• Poor error handling and logging
• Missing documentation
• Tightly coupled components resistant to change

Six months post-launch, when you need to add features or fix bugs, poorly structured code becomes increasingly expensive to modify.

Integration Complexity

Real business applications require integrations:

• Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
• CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot)
• Accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks)
• Marketing platforms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign)
• Analytics and monitoring tools

While AI handles standard APIs reasonably, complex business logic, error handling, webhook management, and data synchronisation require experienced developers.

Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

UK businesses face regulatory obligations:

• GDPR: Proper consent management, data processing agreements, right to deletion implementation
• Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 compliance for public-facing applications
• Industry-Specific: FCA regulations for financial services, CQC requirements for healthcare

AI platforms lack the legal and compliance expertise to ensure applications meet these standards.

The Original Objective Approach

We recognise vibe coding's value for rapid prototyping whilst acknowledging its production limitations. Our process bridges this gap:

Phase 1: Rapid Prototyping

We leverage vibe coding platforms for initial concepts:

• Validate ideas quickly with functional prototypes
• Test user flows and interfaces
• Gather stakeholder feedback
• Identify technical challenges early

This accelerates discovery phases, reducing time and cost before production development.

Phase 2: Production Hardening

Our developers transform prototypes into production applications:

Security Audit and Remediation

• Comprehensive penetration testing
• OWASP Top 10 vulnerability assessment
• Secure authentication implementation
• Data encryption and protection

Performance Optimisation

• Database query optimisation and indexing
• Caching strategy implementation
• Asset optimisation and CDN integration
• Load testing and scalability planning

Code Quality Improvement

• Architectural refactoring for maintainability
• Comprehensive error handling
• Automated testing implementation
• Documentation and code comments

Integration Development

• Robust third-party API integration
• Webhook management and retry logic
• Data synchronisation and consistency
• Monitoring and alerting

Compliance Implementation

• GDPR compliance auditing and implementation
• Accessibility testing and remediation
• Industry-specific regulatory compliance
• Legal review coordination

Phase 3: Launch and Support

Production deployment requires:

• Infrastructure: Scalable hosting, automated backups, disaster recovery
• Monitoring: Performance tracking, error alerting, user analytics
• Maintenance: Security patching, dependency updates, bug fixes
• Support: User support processes, documentation, training

Real-World Example: E-commerce Platform

Consider a UK fashion retailer wanting to launch online sales:

Vibe Coding Prototype (Week 1-2)

• Product catalogue with images and descriptions
• Shopping cart functionality
• Basic checkout flow
• Order confirmation emails

This validates the concept with stakeholders and provides a functional demo for investor presentations.

Original Objective Production Build (Week 3-12)

• Security: PCI DSS-compliant payment processing, secure customer data handling, fraud detection
• Performance: Optimised product images, fast search, handles 10,000 concurrent users
• Features: Inventory management, customer accounts, order tracking, returns processing
• Integrations: Stripe payments, Xero accounting, Royal Mail shipping, Mailchimp marketing
• Compliance: GDPR-compliant consent, accessible design, consumer rights compliance

The vibe-coded prototype proves the concept. Our production build makes it a viable business.

Why This Matters for UK SMBs

The Lovable funding validates AI-assisted development whilst highlighting a critical gap: getting to market quickly with production-ready applications.

The Costly Alternative

Launching with vibe-coded prototypes as production systems creates technical debt:

• Security breaches damage reputation and incur regulatory fines
• Performance issues during peak traffic lose sales
• Maintenance costs spiral as poorly structured code becomes unmaintainable
• Integration failures disrupt business operations

Rebuilding from scratch costs significantly more than building correctly initially.

The Original Objective Advantage

We combine vibe coding's speed with production engineering expertise:

• Faster Time to Market: Prototype in days, production-ready in weeks
• Lower Total Cost: Avoid expensive rebuilds and technical debt
• Peace of Mind: Security, performance, and compliance handled by experts
• Scalable Foundation: Applications that grow with your business

Common Use Cases

B2B SaaS Applications

Vibe coding prototypes user interfaces and workflows. We add:

• Multi-tenant architecture
• Role-based access control
• API development for integrations
• Usage analytics and billing

Customer Portals

AI generates basic account management. We implement:

• Secure authentication (SSO, MFA)
• Document management and storage
• Real-time notifications
• Integration with internal systems

Booking and Scheduling Systems

Vibe coding creates calendar interfaces. We add:

• Complex availability logic
• Payment processing and invoicing
• Automated reminders and confirmations
• Resource management and optimisation

Mobile Applications

AI generates web applications. We create:

• Native iOS and Android apps
• Offline functionality
• Push notifications
• App Store optimisation and deployment

The Investment

Our production hardening service typically represents 30-40% of traditional full development costs whilst delivering:

• 70% faster time to market
• Production-grade security and performance
• Maintainable, scalable architecture
• Regulatory compliance
• Ongoing support and maintenance

Most clients achieve positive ROI within 6-12 months through reduced development costs and faster revenue generation.

Why Choose Original Objective?

• AI-Native Approach: We embrace vibe coding for appropriate use cases whilst recognising its limitations
• Production Expertise: 15+ years building enterprise-grade applications
• UK-Focused: Deep understanding of UK regulatory requirements and business practices
• Full-Service: From prototype through production to ongoing support
• Transparent Pricing: Fixed-price production hardening packages

The Future of Development

Lovable's $6.6 billion valuation confirms AI-assisted development is here to stay. The future isn't choosing between AI and human developers—it's combining both strategically.

Vibe coding democratises prototyping and idea validation. Experienced developers ensure those prototypes become reliable, secure, scalable production applications.

Early adopters who master this hybrid approach—rapid AI prototyping plus expert production engineering—will dominate their markets whilst competitors struggle with either slow traditional development or unreliable AI-only solutions.

Next Steps

If you have a business idea you want to validate quickly or a vibe-coded prototype needing production readiness, Original Objective can help.

Book a free consultation today. We'll assess your requirements, explain our production hardening process, and provide a clear timeline and cost estimate.

The future of development is hybrid. Let's build your production-ready application together.