At ITware’s first internal Vibe Coding Challenge event, not only experienced developers but also colleagues who had never dealt with programming before had the chance to try themselves out. One of the most inspiring projects came from one of our finance colleagues – without any prior developer background.
The story started with a common problem: during a vacation, everyone pays for something, but the expenses are never equal, and calculating who owes whom is always complicated. That’s how the idea for the cost-sharing app was born. You simply enter who paid for what, and with whom they shared the cost, and the app calculates the balance. This way, the expenses of a shared holiday can be fairly divided with minimal calculation and money transfers between participants.
The First Steps: ChatGPT and the Basic Idea
The project began with a long conversation with ChatGPT, to precisely define the requirements. The AI helped him frame the concept, formulate requirements, and start the development process.
The first attempt started with the VS Code + GitHub Copilot combo. While the program’s basics came together quickly, he got stuck when it came to data storage, which he couldn’t resolve that day due to the limitations of the free tools.
Second Attempt: Cursor and Overcoming Obstacles
A few days later, he tried again – this time with the help of Cursor. As a starting point, he shared the half-finished first version, and then continued the development together with the AI.
This time, every issue was resolved – and he didn’t even have to write a single line of code manually.
- 3 hours for the first version
- 3 hours for the second version
- 2 hours for fine-tuning
Altogether, in just 8 hours, he created an application that completely solved his problem.
What Did AI Provide?
AI didn’t just help fix errors, but also:
- structured the requirements → turned the idea into a specification
- downloaded and set up the necessary tools
- explained everything clearly in everyday language → making the code understandable even without a development background
- and finally, even generated a video for the presentation
Our Colleague’s Opinion About AI
“It was a really great experience working with AI, because if you dedicate enough time and attention to it, it really pays off. I think it’s worth subscribing to these services, because for just a few euros you can create amazing things with the paid versions. I can’t wait to try it again and build applications that make everyday life easier.” – all of this without developer skills, with AI support.