In recent years, we've seen a wave of enthusiasm around building apps with natural language or just “vibing” your way to a product by telling AI what you want. It’s fast, fun, and creatively empowering. But if you’ve tried using vibe coding tools to build a real product, especially one that needs to scale or evolve, then you’ve probably run into serious limitations.

Why? Because software isn’t just a surface-level experience. Behind every user interface is a dense network of assumptions: authentication strategies, rate limits, error handling, testing frameworks, third-party integrations, and dozens more. Traditional coding makes all of these explicit. No-code platforms try to abstract them. Vibe coding tends to ignore them altogether.

That’s why most vibe-coded products fall apart after their “zero to one” moment. As features multiply, so does complexity. Prompts begin to overwrite each other. Critical requirements get lost. And without a system of record to track changes and decisions, the software becomes harder and harder to manage.

Requirements and verifiability are missing

The root issue isn’t just a lack of detail, but a lack of structure. Building software with AI requires more than just good prompts. It requires systems that help us capture requirements, verify assumptions, and iterate without losing the thread.

At Sutro, we believe that’s the real leap forward. We’re not just asking, “What do you want to build?” We’re designing tools that help you clarify what the software should actually do—who it’s for, what actions are allowed, how data flows, and what the edge cases are.

In short, we’re shifting from vibe coding to verifiable building.

That means:

• Creating a graph of structured requirements that adapts to new information

• Maintaining context across iterations, rather than resetting with each new prompt

• Guiding users through flows and functionality with intelligent defaults, not just open-ended guesses

• The goal isn’t to make AI guess better. It’s to give it the right structure to reason within. That’s how we move from vibes to viable software.

The future of AI app building is approaching quickly

If the past 30 years were about learning to code, and the past 10 about learning no-code tools, the next 10 will be about learning how to work with AI.

And the most important skill in that future? Translating intent into outcomes.

Tools that support this transition will look different. They won’t just offer drag-and-drop interfaces or blank prompt boxes. They’ll help users structure ideas, navigate complexity, and maintain alignment with stakeholders as things evolve. They’ll make security, scalability, and system design part of the conversation, not just something bolted on at the end.

At Sutro, we believe this is where AI app builders must go. We’re not just layering AI onto no-code platforms. We’re building tools from the ground up that understand structured requirements and guide users through full-stack development—securely, responsibly, and at speed.

The promise of vibe coding was creative empowerment. The promise of AI app builders is delivering real, production-grade software that works, and continues to work, as your needs grow.

Why this matters for teams inside of organizations

For many teams, internal tooling and process improvements are still bottlenecked by limited engineering bandwidth or legacy no-code systems that can’t scale. AI app builders change that equation.

By making it easy to turn well-articulated requirements into working software, AI platforms reduce friction between business teams and technical delivery. This doesn't just mean faster prototyping—it means clearer ownership, faster iteration, and tools that actually match how teams work.

When requirements are captured in a structured, living system, changes don’t mean starting over. They mean updating a shared understanding and letting AI do the heavy lifting.

It’s not just about building faster. It’s about building better and finally getting software that evolves with your organization.