Episode 22 - The CTO's Case for AI: Fixing Bugs, Vibe Coding, and the Future of Dev Jobs

In this episode, host Richard Bejtlich sits down with Steve Smoot, Chief Technical Officer at Corelight, to explore how AI is reshaping the daily work of engineers and defenders alike. Steve traces his path from early employee to CTO and explains why the flexibility of Open NDR—where a simple ten-line Zeek or Spicy script can solve a customer's edge case without a full product release—remains a core advantage. The conversation digs into practical realities of working with large language models: using AI to navigate unfamiliar code bases, the persistent danger of hallucinations (including a memorable Suricata example), and the classic programming trap where a routine's label no longer matches what the code actually does. Steve and Richard also tackle the anxiety around entry-level technical jobs, offering a grounded, economics-informed counterpoint to doom forecasts, and make the case that architecture, maintainability, and truly understanding the business problem are the durable human skills in an AI-assisted world. It's a candid look at where development is heading—and why understanding the problem still matters more than writing the code.