danshapiro.com

The framework post that defined how the industry talks about AI coding maturity. Dan Shapiro, CEO of Glowforge, published this in January 2026. Within weeks, Justin McCarthy cited it as validation and context for StrongDM’s public announcement.

Key Quotes

“90% of developers who say they are AI native are operating at level two.”

“Almost everybody tops out at level three because they struggle with the psychological difficulty of letting go.”

“Level 5 exists. It’s running in production.”

The Levels

See The Five Levels of AI-Assisted Development for the full breakdown.

Shapiro’s Follow-Up

After StrongDM’s announcement, Shapiro published “You Don’t Write the Code. You Don’t Read the Code Either.” — documenting the StrongDM case study including McCarthy’s admission that he initially doubted Jay Taylor could build the Digital Twin Universe. Available at danshapiro.com.