This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Asif Saleem, a financial services go-to-market lead for Japan and the Asia Pacific region at Google. Asif is the father of 13-year-old Usman Asif and 18-year-old Shanzey Asif. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
It’s important for parents to help kids understand we’re going through a very transformative time. This is like the era when the internet or mobile first emerged. With AI, it may be even bigger.
Kids need to understand this and embrace the technology. Whatever they end up studying — computer science, English, or philosophy — they can make AI part of it.
I was curious about Cursor and some of the other vibecoding tools, so I joined a few “Code with AI” weekend sessions for executives.
I really enjoyed it. Within a matter of hours, we were able to develop different applications. I developed a statement analyzer for a financial services system.
Once I came back home, I spoke to my family about it and showed them the demo. My children, Usman and Shanzey, are both tech-savvy, so that drove their interest. They attended the same course a few weeks later.
They were the youngest in the class. The good part was that they were completely independent, so I let them be on their own. That’s how they ventured into vibe coding and participated in Cursor’s 24-hour weekend hackathon in Singapore.
My children have become more curious and creative
They’ve become more curious about things. Through vibe coding, they’ve learned to be more creative and to use technology to understand how things work.
Neither of them has a formal technology background — they’re not software developers — but they’ve been able to think through ideas, be more creative, and use technology to solve problems.
Technology is the biggest enabler. The question is how humans use it — whether for good or bad. If it’s for good, what are the guardrails?
Using it for good means creating value, solving real challenges, and making information more accessible.
It’s still important to have tech guardrails
Managing screentime is the reason we developed a reward system for Usman because he’s young and he loves gaming. Gaming comes as a reward for achieving goals. Those goals include making your own breakfast, making your bed, or helping clean the house.
When Shanzey is studying, she can’t use AI for the content she’s creating — it can’t even be AI-inspired. It has to be her original work.
That’s super important because schools validate whether output is AI-generated. The same applies to Usman.
It’s important to have both physical and digital skills. Usman plays football because physical activity is important at his age. Shanzey is focused on school right now — her exams are very important, and getting good grades matters.
Nothing beats hands-on learning
I’d say my role is more like a coach — brainstorming with them. My wife does the same, helping them think through ideas and keeping them honest.
I’m often busy with work, so a lot of this couldn’t be done without my wife’s help.
There’s nothing better than hands-on learning. That’s something I’ve learned over the last few years.
You will face challenges and go through them. Parents should get their kids to do things, give them challenges, and nurture them as they work through those challenges. With hands-on experience, they can get better results faster.
With building an app, we co-create the idea, but then the important part is making it happen and reporting back on progress.
Everyone should adapt to AI
At Google, I work with enterprise customers trying to transform their businesses with AI. I can see what’s happening on the ground and how things are changing.
I also see a lot of young talent at Google. They come in thinking about creating apps and learning skills, and I mentor some of them as well.
It’s important to communicate this to my family. I spent time helping them understand how the world is changing and why it’s important for them to understand AI.
It’s not about running away from technology. AI will keep advancing, and the only thing you can do is be accustomed to it, no matter what you want to become.
We’re now in a situation where we have very intelligent large language models, and we’re also moving toward agentic AI, where you can work with agents that help you do a lot more. Speed and agility are improving, and you can now work within larger ecosystems that combine humans and machines, achieving much more.
If you know how to coexist and let machines do meaningful work with you, that’s a skill to aspire to.
Do you have a story to share about vibe coding? Contact this reporter at [email protected].
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