The session opened with Raphaël inviting Sonya to the stage for an informal exchange on vibe coding — a term that had already sparked curiosity across the event. Introducing herself with humor, Sonia said: « Hi everyone, I’m Sonia, I’m a vibe coding addict. »

She began by clarifying terminology: « It’s important to set some definitions first, because vibe coding can mean a lot of things. »
She distinguished between AI-assisted coding, used by developers within corporate frameworks, and AI-automated coding, used by entrepreneurs to generate prototypes quickly.

As Sonya explained, in a corporate setting, AI tools like ChatGPT are used for code proofreading or syntax help — « you can’t really vibe code from scratch » — whereas entrepreneurs can use fully automated AI generation to « create quick prototypes without caring too much about the code quality. »

AI as a Catalyst for Entrepreneurship

Sonya described how she applies this dual approach both as a developer and as a store owner in Geneva running a secondhand luxury clothing shop.
Her recent project: an AI-driven valuation app for luxury handbags.

« Clients bring me their handbags, and I used to evaluate the price based on experience or Googling. Now I developed an app that does this for me. »
Within a few months, she and her team built a prototype now used daily in-store. « Without AI vibe coding, I would not be able to do that, or it would take me a super long time. »

The project just received its first CHF 5,000 in funding from the Talent Kick incubator, allowing them to test the prototype and validate the market. André congratulated her: « Even if you are 20, 40, 60, the key is always welcome. »

From Hackathons to Adobe Partnership

Sonya described how vibe coding also unlocked a new avenue — competitive hackathons: « It’s quite a lucrative activity, I have to say. »
She recently won an Adobe hackathon and is now collaborating with the company on an add-on for Adobe Express. « I had a call with them yesterday; I’m advancing on that. »

Her current priorities are split between the handbag valuation app and this Adobe collaboration, though she admitted, « I always have like a billion ideas in my head » — a statement that drew laughter from the audience.

Learning Front-End with AI: From Intimidation to Empowerment

Raphaël pointed out that Sonya’s background was not in web or front-end development: « You never did any front-end project for years, neither back-end … You have just a data background on machine learning, a bit like one year. »

Sonya confirmed: « I’m a data scientist by training … I was mostly working in backend, in Python … JavaScript and front-end always felt intimidating, with all these curly brackets and semicolons. »

AI tools completely changed that. « You don’t have to start from scratch anymore. You can ask Bolt to generate a small project, read through it, and learn from it. »
Debugging, she added, became an excellent way to learn syntax and structure. « Now I can understand my way around JavaScript … coming from a Python data science background. »

Women and Accessibility in Coding

Asked what she would tell women intimidated by programming, Sonya challenged the false dichotomy between “literary” and “scientific” minds:
« There’s this pseudo-scientific idea that you’re either a literary person or a mathematical person. »
She emphasized that AI tools flatten the learning curve: « The barrier is basically gone … It’s so much easier to get into that. »

She noted that many women tend to be « a little more shy » around technical fields, but AI assistants help overcome that first wall of incomprehension. « There are tools out there for you that can get you started. »