"We knew our research might lead to big changes for the world, but we felt like we couldn’t stop because innovation was so exciting."
— Stanisław Lem, “His Master’s Voice”
This article is intended for developers interested in integrating AI into their workflow, and for engineering managers who want to evaluate the real-world impact of tools like Cursor, Windsurf or other AI-based coding assistants.
Recently, 8 West gave me the opportunity to try out Cursor, a tool that helps with software development using AI. I was so excited to get started that I ended up spending the whole weekend experimenting with it — a side project entirely done in my own time. I wanted to see if it could help me create something that wasn’t just a prototype, but a real tool used in production: a solution that allows sending emails with HTML content using JSON as the data source. I quickly put the tool to use by generating and sending reports — formatted in HTML — containing Azure DevOps test results. At first, it looked like a simple task. But as I worked through it, I started asking deeper questions:
How much can AI really help in software development? And when do we still need human judgment and experience?
Working with Cursor showed me both what AI can do well and where it still struggles.
These wins showed how helpful AI can be when setting up repetitive or technical tasks.
These problems didn’t mean the tool was useless — but they showed that AI still needs human support and corrections. Having a developer check the results and make final fixes was very important. In fact, if I had written the entire solution manually from scratch, without the help of this tool, I estimate it would have taken me more than twice the time overall. The tool clearly helped speed up development significantly by handling many repetitive and technical tasks, allowing me to focus on the logic and final touches.
Thanks to 8 West, I have seen firsthand that AI cannot replace developers, but it makes their work easier and faster. It also creates opportunities to learn new things and explore unfamiliar technologies, helping developers grow as they create.
With the right approach, AI can be a valuable teammate. It works best when people guide it, analyze what it creates, and use their experience to improve it.
I’m especially glad to see that 8 West’s organizational vision aligns so closely with this perspective. The emphasis on augmenting human expertise rather than replacing it — and on empowering teams to use AI responsibly and creatively — reflects my own experience and values. The recently published AI-Better vision statement captures these principles clearly and, in my view, will strongly resonate with many in the development community.
I’d love to hear what others have done with AI. Have you tried solving real problems with it? What worked, and where did you still need to step in?
To close the article, I’d like to quote Andrew Ng — a respected authority in the field of artificial intelligence and the founder of DeepLearning.AI — to balance the opening reflection from one of science fiction’s greatest voices with the perspective of one of today’s foremost AI practitioners:
“Some people today are telling others not to learn programming because they think AI will take over that job. I believe this is some of the worst career advice ever. I disagree with a famous scientist who once said that programming will probably disappear and computers will just program themselves. Telling people not to learn coding is harmful.”
— Andrew Ng
Objective: Develop a PowerShell-based tool to send HTML-formatted emails containing Azure DevOps test results, using JSON as the data source and Handlebars.Net for templating. Total time invested: ~10 hours across two Cursor usage sessions.
🕒 Time spent: 30 minutes
🕒 Time spent: 15 minutes
🕒 Time spent: 2 hours
🕒 Time spent: 3 hours
🕒 Time spent: 3 hours
🕒 Time spent: 30 minutes
Discrepancy between browser and email client rendering due to CSS in <head>. 📝 Recommendation (from Cursor): use inline styles. ✅ Solution tested and considered valid.