The Rise of Vibe-Coding in PM Interviews
Google PM Interview - Why AI prototyping is becoming a must-have skill for product managers—and how to master it before your next interview.
Product management interviews at top tech companies (FAANG and beyond) have traditionally covered familiar ground – product design, strategy, execution, analytics, and behavioral questions. But recently a new twist has entered the scene: the “vibe coding” round. For PM roles in AI/ML-driven products especially, the game is shifting – it’s not just about whiteboard frameworks anymore, but about building quickly, thinking like a developer, and demonstrating your product instincts in real time. Many experts believe it’s only a matter of when, not if, vibe coding becomes a common part of PM interviews across domains.
So, what exactly is vibe coding, and why should experienced PMs preparing for FAANG interviews care? In this guide, we’ll explore the vibe-coding phenomenon and how you can prepare for this new kind of interview round. We’ll cover:
What is vibe coding?
Why vibe coding matters for PMs (even non-technical ones)
Key concerns (Do PMs need to code now?)
Core skills to develop for vibe-coding interviews
Types of vibe-coding interview questions (with sample prompts)
How interviewers evaluate candidates in these rounds
Common interview formats for vibe coding
A step-by-step framework to approach vibe-coding prompts
By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to navigate a vibe-coding interview – a format that could soon become a staple in landing your next big PM role.
What is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding is essentially coding by describing what you want in natural language and letting AI do the rest. The term was popularized by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy in early 2025. Instead of writing syntax line-by-line, you “give instructions in plain English” to an AI coding assistant, which then generates the code for you. In other words, you focus on the idea and the “vibe” of what you’re building, and the AI handles the actual programming.
As Karpathy famously described it, vibe coding is “fully giving in to the vibes, embracing exponentials, and forgetting that the code even exists.” In practice, this means using advanced large language models (LLMs) or AI pair-programming tools to build software by conversing about features and fixes, rather than manually coding every step. You might say, “Create a simple landing page with a signup form” or “Connect this app to a weather API and display the forecast,” and watch as the AI writes and refines the code based on your prompts.
Karpathy introducing the concept of “vibe coding” on social media (Feb 2025). It’s about letting AI write code while you guide it with natural language prompts.
The power of vibe coding is that it lowers the barrier to creating software. You no longer need years of coding experience to prototype an app or feature. Even those with minimal technical background can build functional prototypes by “just seeing stuff, saying stuff, and running stuff,” as Karpathy puts it. Advocates note that this approach “democratizes” software development, making a skill once limited to engineers accessible to virtually anyone. In fact, real-world stories bear this out – for example, a 91-year-old retired engineer recently used an AI assistant (Claude) and Replit to vibe-code a complex event management system with no prior software development experience. And it cost him under $350 to build! If a great-grandparent can do it, you bet a PM without formal coding experience can do it too.
To be clear, vibe coding isn’t magic or infallible. Sometimes the AI nails the task end-to-end; other times it produces errors or incomplete solutions that require guidance and debugging. But the key point is you, as the “developer,” are writing prompts instead of code. You describe the what, and the AI figures out the how. This shift has huge implications for product managers.
Why Vibe Coding Matters for PMs
You might be thinking: “I’m a PM, not an engineer – why should I care about vibe coding?” The short answer: because it can make you a more effective, faster-moving product builder. Companies have started to realize that if AI can handle the heavy lifting of coding, PMs can directly prototype their ideas without always waiting on engineering resources. This is a game-changer for a few reasons:
Imagine being able to whip up a working prototype in a day or less. With AI prototyping tools, you can. Quickly building a demo or MVP means you can put an idea in front of users or stakeholders for feedback much sooner than before. Early feedback de-risks product decisions. You can test assumptions and iterate on product ideas at lightning speed.
A functional prototype is a powerful communication tool. You can show, not just tell, your vision to leadership and cross-functional teams. Instead of a static slide deck, you might come to a meeting with an interactive demo. This can help in getting executive buy-in or exciting a client about a concept. A prototype makes your idea tangible, which often speaks louder than a PRD document.
Traditionally, PMs without coding skills might feel at the mercy of engineering teams to explore certain ideas. Vibe coding flips that script. With the right prompts, you can build out the basic version of an app or feature. As one PM-focused publication put it, “vibe coding combines rapid iteration, AI-powered development, and creativity to enable PMs to build and prototype faster than ever”. It democratizes the ability to create software, allowing PMs to be more self-sufficient in exploring solutions.
PM roles in cutting-edge teams (especially in AI-focused products) are beginning to expect some hands-on building ability. Showing that you can harness AI to produce results is becoming a competitive differentiator. It’s a bit like the rise of data analysis in PM – years ago, not every PM was expected to run SQL queries, but today it’s a common skill. AI prototyping could be similar: not strictly required everywhere yet, but increasingly valuable (and eventually standard).
The trend is clear. PMs are actively upskilling in this area. Companies, too, are catching on. For AI/ML PM positions, some firms (like Google’s AI PM roles) are already assessing candidates on their ability to utilize these AI coding tools. And experts predict that even “traditional” PM roles will incorporate this skill soon enough.
Bottom line: If you’re an experienced PM aiming for a top-tier company, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with vibe coding. It can set you apart in interviews and, more importantly, help you build better products once you’re on the job.
Common Concerns (Do PMs Need to Code Now?)
The rise of vibe coding in interviews naturally raises some concerns among PMs. The biggest question we hear is: “Does this mean I have to learn how to code?” The honest answer is no – and yes.
No, you don’t need to become a software engineer. Vibe coding is about leveraging AI to handle the syntax and heavy lifting of programming. You’re not going to be asked to write algorithms on a whiteboard in these rounds. In fact, the promise of vibe coding is that you can build things without writing code yourself. So if you’ve never coded in your life, you can still learn to use AI tools to create apps. Many PMs from non-engineering backgrounds have successfully picked up AI prototyping without diving into full-on coding classes.
Yes, you do need to become more technically fluent. While you might not write the code, you do need to understand how software systems work at a high level. Think of it this way: if you’re going to direct an AI to build something, you have to speak its language to some extent and understand what it’s building. Key technical concepts like how web apps are structured (front-end, back-end, database), what an API is, how to define basic data schemas, and how to interpret error messages or bugs will greatly help you succeed in vibe coding.
You should be comfortable breaking a problem down into components the AI can tackle (e.g. “We’ll need a database model for users and a separate one for orders”).
You should recognize common error messages or bugs that might come up when the AI is coding, so you can instruct it to fix them (e.g. knowing that a
NullPointerExceptionor a database connection error might be the culprit behind a failure).Essentially, you need to develop a troubleshooting mindset. Vibe coding sessions can hit snags – maybe the tool writes code that doesn’t compile, or the UI doesn’t behave as expected. A PM who understands the possible reasons (even without coding it themselves) can guide the AI to a solution more effectively.
If you’re not from a tech background, this might sound daunting. But many non-technical PMs have successfully leveled up by focusing on practical knowledge: how to debug a simple issue, how to use logs, how front-end and back-end communicate, etc. You don’t have to memorize code, but you should know what’s under the hood. Over time, you may even find yourself reading the AI-generated code out of curiosity. It’s OK if that doesn’t come naturally at first – start with learning the concepts and using the tools; the code literacy can come later.
Another concern PMs voice is: “What if I get a vibe-coding prompt and I freeze because I’ve never done this?” That’s why preparation is key. Later in this post, we’ll share a framework for tackling these prompts. But a reassuring thought: interviewers are not looking for flawless coding ability here. They know you’re not an engineer. They’re more interested in how you approach the problem, communicate, and utilize the tool to reach a solution. It’s as much a test of product thinking and adaptability as it is of technical savvy.
Core Skills to Develop for Vibe-Coding Interviews
To excel in a vibe-coding round, focus on building three core skill areas:
Become familiar with the AI tools that enable vibe coding. This includes knowing which tools are out there (e.g. Replit’s Ghostwriter, Cursor, v0.dev, Lovable, Claude’s Artifact mode, etc.) and how to use them at a basic level. Practice prompting these tools to do small tasks. Learn how to iterate prompts to refine the output (e.g. “Now make the button blue and move it to the top-right”). The better you know the tool’s interface and quirks, the smoother you’ll be in an interview setting.
This is a longstanding component of PM interviews and it remains crucial. You should understand system design basics so that you can outline a solution before diving into building it. For instance, if asked to prototype a simple e-commerce feature, you should logically figure out: What components will we need? Perhaps a front-end UI, a back-end server, a database for products/users, and maybe external APIs for payments. Knowing how these pieces fit together is important. The goal isn’t to make you an architect, but to give you the confidence to say “Here’s the architecture I propose and why.” In a vibe coding interview, this might translate to instructing the AI to set up certain modules or explaining your plan to the interviewer.
This is perhaps the trickiest skill and one that truly differentiates great vibe-coding PMs. Root cause analysis means the ability to systematically figure out why something broke and how to fix it. When using AI to code, things will go wrong at times – maybe the app throws an error on launch, or a function doesn’t do what you expected. Instead of panicking, approach it like a detective. Check the error output (if any), think through what part of the system could be causing it, and then prompt the AI to address that. For example, if the AI-built app crashes when a user tries to sign up, you might deduce there’s an issue with how the database is saving new users. You could then tell the AI, “Fix the user signup database save error” or inspect the code (if you’re comfortable) and point it in the right direction. Developing this skill comes with practice – the more mini-projects you vibe-code, the more you’ll encounter bugs and learn to solve them. Start small and embrace the bugs as learning opportunities.
Types of Vibe-Coding Interview Questions (What to Expect)
What exactly might you be asked to do in a vibe coding interview round? Broadly, vibe-coding prompts for PMs fall into three categories: