Your next pair programmer doesn't sleep, doesn't get blocked, and writes code faster than you can review it. And that's exactly the point.

Pair programming has long been one of software development's most powerful practices: two developers, one goal, constantly reviewing each other's work, catching mistakes in real time, and accelerating learning in both directions. The problem? It's expensive, it's hard to scale, and finding the right partner isn't always possible.

AI is changing that (and I'm not talking about Vibe Coding).

I recently built a full-stack mobile app for a Portland-based transit startup, in days rather than weeks using Claude Code as my pair programmer. But here's what that actually looked like: I architected the program structure, defined the rules and constraints, designed the data model, and set the boundaries of the system. Claude provided much of the implementation. And critically, I reviewed Claude's work just as rigorously as it reviewed mine. That's pair programming, not prompt-and-pray.

I also brought Behavior Driven Development into the mix, writing Gherkin-formatted user stories directly in my Linear project tickets. This creates a shared language that humans, stakeholders, and AI can all read, implement against, and test. When your AI pair programmer understands your acceptance criteria the same way your QA engineer does, the whole system gets smarter.

The real promise of pair programming was never just faster code — it was learning from your partner, raising the quality bar, and building something neither of you could have built alone. AI delivers on that promise at a fraction of the traditional cost.

AI isn't replacing software developers. It's augmenting the great ones.

If your company wants to ship faster without sacrificing quality or burning out your team, let's connect — I'd love to talk about what's possible.

#SoftwareEngineering #AI #PairProgramming #BDD #EngineeringLeadership #MobileDevelopment