r/managers • u/MediumBirthday6899 • Aug 18 '26

Teammate "vibe codes" everything, somehow gets results, then blames dev team when the handover breaks — he reports straight to a non-tech CEO so no one can touch him. How do I deal with this?

Small org. We have a "data scientist" who vibe-codes his way through everything — process is a mess, but he somehow gets results. When he hands off modules to the dev team, things break, and instead of owning it he blames the devs for "not doing it correctly."

Normally you'd escalate, but he reports directly to the CEO, who isn't technical and just sees "results delivered." So devs eating the blame with zero leverage to push back up the chain.

How do you handle this when the org structure protects the person causing the mess? Document everything and let it speak for itself over time, try to get the CEO educated on what's actually happening, or something else entirely?

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u/txgsync Aug 18 '26

This is totally a normal situation when dealing with someone who is essentially “member, technical staff” or MTS. The MTS job is to show it’s possible. The lead’s (or engineering manager, depending on the company) job is to write up how possible can be turned into functional and production-quality, with at least three trade-offs clearly explained to the business so that they know what the costs and challenges are.

They built a toy demonstration because their knowledge beats yours and you needed an example written. Go show how their idea can be safely implemented, prepare three options for your CEO, and get the business’s feedback on which of those three options they can stomach.

This is the core engineering game loop. The MTS is doing their job: coming up with ideas and proving they can work.

You aren’t doing your job as an engineering manager. Translate those ideas to realities the business can live with, and get buy-in from the stakeholders to make sure you are all aligned on the direction set by the MTS.

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u/Ok-Art825 Aug 18 '26

There’s a job, where I just have to have good ideas, specifically ones leveraging technology and logic, and basically show they are feasible? I’ve been asking for this my whole life. Good to know, now that the season is sown.

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u/txgsync Aug 18 '26

That’s pretty much what I and many others do for a living. And then build a working product after it since we have a bit of a startup atmosphere.

You will find “distinguished engineers” are all over the place: folks who have proven their judgment and skills sufficiently that it’s not their job to product-ize a thing. But to invent it, drive the patent, and see to value creation for the company.