Is Web Development Dying?

What feels like an end is actually a transition

That was the question a CEO put to me last month.

He wasn’t being provocative, just pragmatic. He’d seen the demos. Heard the hype. Read the headlines. If an AI can knock out a working prototype from a text prompt, why hire a dev team?

It’s a fair question. But also a flawed one.

Because web development isn’t dying. What’s dying in the web development industry is the illusion that the value lies in typing code. That pushing pixels and writing HTML is where the magic lives. It never was.

The real work, the work that matters, isn’t in the syntax. It’s in the thinking before the build. In designing digital experiences that solve real problems, convert real users, and drive measurable outcomes.

I’ve been in this space long enough to remember when traditional web development was still hand-coded, HTML from scratch, CSS floated layouts, PHP forms that broke if you sneezed at them. Then to create websites came the WYSIWYG editors, Dreamweaver, FrontPage. We were told this is it, code is over. It wasn’t. Later, WordPress and Wix promised to “democratise the web” and replace the need for bespoke builds. Agencies were supposed to be dead. Then came no-code platforms, with the same prophecy. And now it’s AI. Each wave claimed to replace developers. Each one did the same thing: shifted the tools, raised the bar, and made human judgement even more valuable.

Right now, AI is rewriting the rules, but not removing the need for web developers. It’s just exposing the ones who were only ever doing surface level work.

So no, the industry isn’t dying. It’s evolving. Fast.

And the question leaders should be asking isn’t, “Do we still need web development?”

It’s “What does great web development look like in an AI-first world?”

When Andrej Karpathy coined the term “vibe coding,” he wasn’t joking. Describe what you want. Let the AI generate the scaffolding. Tweak a few things. Ship.

Sounds great, until you try to build something with real-world complexity. Or navigate compliance in a regulated sector. Or inherit a thousand-line mess of “AI spaghetti” inside an app that was meant to be a scalable platform, not a demo.

Still, the myth persists: that DIY website builders and AI-generated code can now do what skilled web developers have spent years mastering. That English is the new programming language. That AI will replace your dev team, your product team, and probably your head of UX too.

And you can see why. Generative AI demos well. It autocompletes logic, spins up dynamic websites, and creates interactive web applications in minutes. Tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT genuinely are changing the way we write code. I use them. My team uses them.

But the narrative that this is the end of modern web development? That’s fiction.

Here’s what rarely gets mentioned:

Yes, machine learning can help optimise performance. Yes, AI can accelerate boilerplate. But web development is about more than writing code. It’s about orchestrating outcomes.

And that’s what separates a coder from a web strategist.

At Ronins, we see this every week. Clients don’t come to us because they can’t find someone to generate HTML. They come because they need something that performs. Converts. Scales. Something that aligns to goals that matter across marketing, product, and the boardroom.

Web development isn’t dying. But it is leaving behind anyone who was only doing surface work.

And that’s a good thing.

Because what’s coming next, AI-assisted, data-aware, experience-led, outcome driven, needs more thinking, not less.

AI isn’t killing it, it’s revealing what really matters.

When I started coding, it was on a ZX81. There were no frameworks, no libraries, no bootcamps, just me, the code, and the crash logs. Back then, “web development” meant stitching together HTML and CSS by hand, hoping it looked half-decent on Internet Explorer. Responsive design wasn’t a standard, it was a guess. Mobile apps didn’t exist. And every site break was fixed with coffee and trial and error.

Then came Dreamweaver. WordPress. The first mobile-first frameworks. Suddenly, traditional web development looked under threat. No code platforms arrived with the same promise: to simplify and automate. Now AI is having its turn.

But here’s the truth: every wave of disruption reshaped how we build, not why. The need for strategic, outcome driven, human led thinking? That never went away. It just got more valuable.

AI makes things faster, yes. But it also makes your gaps more obvious. If all you can do is write syntax, you’ll be outpaced. But if you can translate human need into high-performing digital experiences, progressive web apps, mobile flows, ecommerce conversions, you’ll be indispensable.

I’ve had to make that shift myself.

When we rebuilt an app for a leading fast food chain, the brief was clear: help them compete with Domino’s and Deliveroo. But the breakthrough wasn’t in code, it was in understanding the customer. Hands full. Hungry. Mid-scroll. We added voice ordering. App store ratings jumped from one star to five. That’s not feature creep. That’s context.

Same with the connected thermometer we built for a global pharma brand. The tech worked. But the real challenge? Designing for stressed parents at 3am. Tired. Worried. One thumb, one eye open. So we rethought everything: onboarding, tone, flow. Not to impress a developer community, but to reassure a human being.

This is what AI can’t do: feel tension. Spot nuance. Decide what not to build.

At Ronins, we no longer talk about “pages” or “platforms” first. We start with better questions:

Only then do we build. And yes, we use AI, modern frameworks, cloud platforms, all of it. But none of it replaces the judgment of a strategist who’s seen what works, what breaks, and why users actually stick around.

The future of web development isn’t full of code, it’s full of clarity.

And in that future, your most valuable asset won’t be how quickly you ship, it’ll be how wisely you decide what’s worth shipping at all.

AI doesn’t change the brief, it sharpens it.

Here’s the truth most people miss: clients were never hiring you just to write code.

They were hiring you to solve something.

Maybe it was friction in a signup journey. Maybe it was a clunky checkout. Maybe it was a leadership team unsure where to focus their next product sprint.

What they need today hasn’t changed. But their expectations have. In a digital world shaped by AI, speed is now expected, but clarity, precision, and commercial thinking have never been more essential.

And that’s exactly where most AI-built solutions fall flat. They look decent. But they don’t work, not where it counts. Not when it’s time to scale, convert, or differentiate.

We’ve had clients come to Ronins after trying low-cost AI builds, Copilot-heavy freelancers, or bloated platforms promising code-free magic. Every time, the story’s the same: it was fast, but it failed. Either the web technologies used weren’t right, the experience wasn’t converting, or no one had thought beyond a few static website templates.

The result? Sites that couldn’t scale. Journeys that confused users. Products that looked like they belonged to 2012, not a competitive 2025.

Clients aren’t buying websites, they’re buying outcomes. They want performance. Growth. Confidence. We don’t start with “What do you want us to build?” We start with “What result are you chasing?” That shift is everything. It’s the difference between ticking a box and building a business asset.

With Catch, we didn’t just ship an app. We built a growth engine. From UX audits to conversion-led feature pages, every decision was made to support traction. Traffic surged, subscriptions doubled, bookings spiked. AI helped prototype, but results came from real understanding. That’s what experienced developers bring: insight into what moves the needle.

At Orbus Software, we replaced a rigid CMS with a flexible, component-based design system. The result? Freedom, consistency, and scalability. We used modern web technologies, but always anchored in business logic. Their internal team now moves faster, with fewer handovers and more autonomy. That’s not just design. That’s operational advantage.

With Hurtwood House, it wasn’t the visuals that landed hardest, it was the emotion. The story. The accuracy with which we captured the school’s soul. That kind of resonance isn’t built in Figma alone. It’s the product of skilled developers and strategists who know how to ask the right questions. AI can’t replicate that. Not yet.

Clients don’t ask us if we use AI anymore. They assume we do.

What they ask now is:

And if the answer to any of that is “Let me ask ChatGPT,” you’ve already lost the room.

Because the world wide web may have started with static websites, but today’s users expect more: seamless flows, emotional logic, outcomes they can feel. That’s where web development changes have brought us, from build it and leave it, to outcome-driven orchestration.

That’s where experienced, human-led strategy still wins, every single time.

Less typing. More thinking. Greater impact.

The question isn’t whether AI will write the code.

It already does.

The real question is: who decides what gets built, why it matters, and how it fits into the bigger picture?

That’s where the future of web development is headed. Away from button styling and syntax debates. Toward strategy, orchestration, and systems thinking.

We’re not here to be keyboards. We’re here to be operators.

In the next few years, the most valuable developers won’t be the ones who know every React hook or CSS nuance. They’ll be the ones who:

That’s already how I hire. That’s how I teach. That’s how I position Ronins.

Because in our world, the edge isn’t technical, it’s judgemental. It’s how well you interpret a brief, simplify a flow, protect a user, see a risk before it becomes a support ticket.

And yes, AI will keep getting better. But with every leap in automation, the demand for clarity rises with it.

We’ll need more people who can architect systems, design with empathy, ensure accessibility, integrate with legacy backends, plan migrations, align with business goals, and speak plainly about risk.

AI can write code. It can’t own outcomes. That’s on us.

So to anyone still clinging to the keyboard as their value, I’d say this:

Don’t let your skillset age out of relevance. Make yourself the one who decides what gets built.

Strategy matters more than ever. Let’s build like it.

If you’ve read this far, chances are you’re not here for another AI demo or dev-for-hire.

You’re asking deeper questions:

Whether you’re leading a scale-up, launching a new venture, or trying to squeeze more ROI from your current stack, you’re not looking for code. You’re looking for confidence.

Confidence that the right things are being built. That they’ll perform. That they’ll scale with you, across devices, channels, and user types.

That’s where we come in.

At Ronins, we don’t just “do websites.” We design outcomes. Whether it’s streamlining a mobile app, rethinking your CMS, or turning legacy platforms into conversion engines, we combine modern web development with responsive web design principles to create systems that grow with you, not against you.

We use AI where it adds value. We keep our thinking sharp by staying close to emerging technologies, from automation to personalisation to progressive web apps. But the tools are only part of it.

The real value comes from knowing when to apply them, and when to hold back.

So if you’re questioning what to prioritise next, or whether your digital estate is still fit for purpose across today’s mobile devices, we should talk.

And if you’re someone looking to learn web development in a way that aligns with real-world business outcomes, not just frameworks and syntax, I’m always open to mentoring sharp minds.

This isn’t a pitch. It’s a call for clarity.

Because in a world full of louder noise and faster tools, clarity is still the sharpest advantage you can have.

Let’s talk when you’re ready.

Andrej Karpathy on “vibe coding” – Describes the shift toward natural language programming and its real-world limitations.
Source: Wikipedia – Vibe Coding

Goldman Sachs: 300 million jobs may be affected by generative AI – Includes software development as a key category.
Source: Exploding Topics – AI Job Impact

Orgvue 2025: 55% of companies regret AI-driven layoffs – Automation didn’t deliver expected efficiency.
Source: TechRepublic – AI Layoff Regret

Klarna reversed AI customer service automation – AI failed to meet customer experience goals.
Source: TechRepublic – Klarna AI Backtrack

GitHub Copilot helps devs write up to 50% of code—but requires human oversight
Source: GitHub Blog – Copilot 1-Year Review

AI-generated code often buggy or unmaintainable – Examples of 1,000+ line files with poor structure.
Source: LinkedIn via Reddit – Dev Anecdotes

InfoWorld: AI will require more developers, not fewer – AI increases demand for orchestration, QA, and oversight.
Source: InfoWorld – Matt Asay

Gartner predicts 80% of developers will need AI skills by 2027
Source: Gartner Forecast Summary via InfoWorld

LinkedIn Economic Graph: Copilot users hire more developers – AI tools increase team output, not shrink headcount.
Source: LinkedIn – Economic Graph 2024