This told essay is based on a conversation with Asif Saleem, head of financial services market development for Japan and Asia Pacific at Google. Asif is the father of 13-year-old Usman Asif and 18-year-old Shanzey Asif. Edited for length and clarity.
It is important for parents to help their children understand that we are going through a period of great change. This is similar to when the internet and mobile were first introduced. With AI, it could become even bigger.
Children need to understand this and embrace technology. No matter what you end up studying, whether it’s computer science, English, philosophy, etc., AI can be a part of it.
I was interested in Cursor and other vibe coding tools, so I attended a few executive “Code with AI” weekend sessions.
It was really fun. Within a few hours, we were able to develop various applications. Developed a statement analyzer for financial services systems.
When I got home, I told my family about it and showed them a demo. Both my children, Usman and Shanzay, are tech-savvy and this sparked their interest. A few weeks later, they attended the same course.
They were the youngest in their class. The good thing was that they were completely independent, so I let them do their thing. So they decided to try their hand at vibecoding and participated in Cursor’s 24-hour weekend hackathon in Singapore.
My children have become more curious and creative
They became more interested in things. Through vibecoding, they learned to be more creative and use technology to understand how things work.
Neither has a formal technology background. Although I’m not a software developer, I was able to think through ideas, be more creative, and use technology to solve problems.
Technology is the biggest enabler. The question is how humans use it. That’s good or bad. If it’s a good thing, what are the guardrails?
Putting it to good use means creating value, solving real-world challenges, and making information more accessible.
Having technical guardrails remains important
Usman is young and loves the game, so managing his screen time is why we developed a reward system for him. Games are played as a reward for achieving goals. Those goals include making your own breakfast, making your bed, and helping clean the house.
When Shanzey is studying, AI cannot be used in the content he is creating. Nor can it be AI-inspired content. It must be her original work.
This is very important because schools will be verifying whether the output was generated by AI. The same goes for Usman.
It is important to acquire both physical and digital skills. Usman plays soccer because physical activity is important at his age. Shansey is now focused on school. Her exam is very important and it is important to get good grades.
Nothing beats hands-on learning
My role is similar to a coach, to brainstorm with them. My wife does the same, helping them think of ideas and keeping them honest.
I’m often busy with work, so I couldn’t do many things without my wife’s help.
There’s nothing like hands-on learning. That’s what I’ve learned over the last few years.
You will face challenges and overcome them. Parents need to give their children something to do, give them tasks, and raise them as they work through those tasks. With practical experience, you can get better results faster.
When you build an app, you collaborate on ideas, but the key is bringing them to life and reporting on your progress.
Everyone needs to adapt to AI
At Google, we work with enterprise customers who are transforming their businesses with AI. You can see what’s happening on the ground and how the situation is changing.
I think Google has a lot of young talent. They’re looking at building apps and learning skills, and I’m coaching some of them.
It is important to communicate this to your family. I spent time helping them understand how the world is changing and why understanding AI is important.
It’s not about running away from technology. AI will continue to evolve, and no matter what you want to become, you have no choice but to get used to it.
We’re now in a situation where we have language models at scale that are very intelligent, and we’re also moving towards agent AI that can work with agents that can help us do even more. With increased speed and agility, we can now work within a larger ecosystem of humans and machines to accomplish more.
If you know how to coexist and make machines do meaningful work, that’s a skill to aspire to.
Do you have a story to share about vibe coding? Contact this reporter at: cmlee@businessinsider.com.
