What software engineering got wrong for decades, you're about to repeat with AI

I've been a software engineer for 20 years. Current AI coding tools — OpenClaw, Claude Code, Claude Cowork — are designed, in a way, to replace people like me. They write code. They run commands. They debug their own mistakes (sometimes). And honestly? I get it. Engineers are expensive. We take forever. We still ship bugs. We're weird in meetings. If you could skip us and just tell a computer what you want, why wouldn't you? But here's the thing about those 20 years. Most of what I learned wasn't about code. It was about how to think about complex tools, how to avoid traps that look like shortcuts, and when to spend money versus when to save it. Those lessons translate directly to using AI — whether you're a developer or a business owner who's never written a line of code. 1. Keep it simple, stupid The KISS principle — "keep it simple, stupid" — came from Kelly Johnson, the lead engineer at Lockheed Skunk Works in the 1960s. He designed spy planes. His rule was that any jet engine shou