Brian Coords
^{Developer Advocate}

Brian Coords talks with software engineer and WordPress consultant Ian Svoboda about using AI agents in real client work. Ian shares his Claude Code and Codex review loop, how he gives agents practical access to WordPress and tests their changes, and examples from WooCommerce and large site migrations. They also discuss which plugins still earn their place, when clients need WordPress, and why developers should sell business results rather than code. Links Ian Svoboda’s website Learn WordPress Theme Development Ian Svoboda on X Ian’s previous Webmasters.FM episode Chapters 00:00 Ian Svoboda’s path from WordPress builds to AI agents 02:05 From Copilot experiments to agentic development 04:11 Why cross-model code review catches more 06:06 Terminal sessions, agent confidence, and reusable project rules 10:57 Letting agents communicate through panes and shared state 13:03 Giving agents safe, practical access to WordPress sites 16:13 Using WordPress APIs to accelerate client work 17:41 Testing a site migration across hundreds of pages 19:33 Custom WooCommerce features without plugin sprawl 22:44 When to fork a plugin instead of buying another 25:03 Which software products are vulnerable to vibe coding? 27:03 Small bets, custom tools, and measuring time with agents 30:55 Why complex business problems still need specialized products 33:08 Choosing WordPress, static sites, and the right client experience 36:24 SpaceFast for agent-made artifacts and presentations 39:04 Building agent workflows that survive model changes 41:05 Why developers should sell outcomes, not code 44:18 Ian’s upcoming workshop and where to follow him