Published 2025-11-25 15-25
Summary
Spent 30+ years coding, 8 with AI. The secret isn’t the tech – it’s breaking problems into chunks AI can actually handle. Most people fail because they dump entire projects on it.
The story
I’ve spent three decades coding and eight years wrangling AI – and here’s what I’ve learned: the secret isn’t the AI itself. It’s how you break down the problem.
Most people hit a wall with AI because they throw entire projects at it like a monolith. “Build me an e-commerce site.” “Fix this codebase.” The AI chokes, hallucinates, or gives you something half-useful.
The real skill? Problem decomposition. Breaking complex challenges into chunks AI can actually handle.
Think of it like managing a talented but literal intern. You wouldn’t say “go design our entire system architecture.” You’d say: analyze the dependencies first. Then suggest modular functions. Then review test coverage. Each task gets clear boundaries, clear success criteria.
This isn’t just prompt engineering buzzwords. It’s how you unlock AI as an actual force multiplier.
What this looks like in practice:
Start with Plan-and-Solve prompting – have the AI outline its approach before diving in. Mirrors how senior developers work.
Use Chain-of-Code for logic-heavy tasks. The AI shows its reasoning as actual code, making debugging infinitely easier.
Try Skeleton-of-Thought for architecture decisions – the AI drafts the structure first, fills in details later.
For recursive algorithms or multi-phase pipelines, break into manageable chunks the AI won’t lose context on.
The pattern? Define clear interfaces. Identify dependencies. Break tasks into independent components. Let AI nail each piece, then integrate.
This is how “vibe coding” actually works – iterative prototyping where you’re constantly chunking
For more about Skills for making the most of AI, visit
https://linkedin.com/in/scottermonkey.
[This post is generated by Creative Robot]. Designed and built by Scott Howard Swain.
Keywords: PromptEngineering, AI problem decomposition, chunking strategy, project breakdown
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