The age of thin clients and middle managers
The author initially resisted anthropomorphizing AI but now embraces it after experiencing significant improvements in AI capabilities in 2026, particularly with GPT-5.3 Codex and Claude 4. They describe using AI agents as a 'duo'—Claude for high-level planning and Codex for code quality and architecture—enabling remote, efficient development. This workflow has increased their productivity and flexibility, allowing coding from various locations without being tied to a desk.
- ▪The author uses Claude for high-level product planning and Codex for writing and reviewing code, creating an efficient AI agent duo.
- ▪AI agents now operate with enough autonomy to build, test, and submit pull requests with minimal human intervention.
- ▪The author leverages tools like tmux, Attach, and Happy to manage multiple AI-driven development sessions remotely.
- ▪This AI-powered workflow allows the author to develop and fix code from locations like coffee shops or during commutes.
- ▪The author spends about $200 per month on AI services to maintain this productive setup.
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The age of thin clients and middle managers 17 May, 2026 Thankfully I didn't make a promise to eat my boot when I kept harping about how we shouldn't anthropomorphize AI agents -- because boy oh boy, I'd be full of boot. Frontier LLMs in mid-2026 aren't the same as they were in 2025. Heck, with how quickly OpenAI and Anthropic are shipping new GPT-5s and Claude 4s, things aren't the same as they were a few months ago. Unironically, AI is making me smarterSomeone recently wrote that AI is making them dumb. A few months ago, I felt the same way. But starting with GPT-5.3 Codex, AI has genuinely started to make me feel smarter. Look -- I've never been the best at writing code. So when GPT-5.3 Codex came out I got into the habit of asking it to review my code whenever I pushed PRs.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at ʕ☞ᴥ ☜ʔ Kix's blog.
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