26. August 2025 By Annette Kauppinen and Ville Vuorio
From Assistant to Collaborator - How AI Is Changing the Craft of Coding Part 1
Blog 1 of 6 — How AI Coding Tools Are Transforming the Daily Work of Developers
Ville Vuorio, Technical Architect for the Nordics at adesso Finland, has been exploring Roo Code—an open-source AI coding agent that integrates directly into the IDE. For him, AI isn’t some distant promise. It’s already reshaping how developers code, how teams collaborate, and how enterprises manage software at scale.
“When I started using Roo Code, I wasn’t skeptical—I was excited,” Ville says. “It feels like having a digital development team with me. It can implement features, refactor code or even help with the solution design. But I’m still in the driver’s seat. As an architect, my role becomes even more important.”
That mental image—AI as a capable junior and the developer as architect and pilot—sums up his experience. The AI accelerates the work, but the human remains in control.
Governed collaboration with AI
The most immediate benefits come through productivity. Repetitive tasks like debugging, boilerplate scaffolding, or writing documentation drafts are handled in seconds. Context switching also fades away. Instead of jumping between tools, Roo Code stays inside the IDE, supporting the workflow smoothly. For Ville, that means staying in flow, especially in complex data engineering tasks. Onboarding becomes easier, too—junior developers can ask the AI for guidance without needing constant peer support.
But AI's impact isn't limited to individuals. Tools like Roo Code and Cline are built for multi-agent collaboration, enabling AI teammates to take on specialized roles—frontend, backend, testing, security—and coordinate like real team members. Ville sees this as transformative: “It’s not just about scaling with people anymore. You can scale with digital teammates.” Cline even offers team dashboards, access controls, and credit sharing—ensuring these agents are governed as responsibly as humans.
And that governance is non-negotiable. Roo Code and Cline emphasize client-side architecture and full compliance with standards like SOC 2 and GDPR. Roo Code also allows local models and customized approval flows, giving organizations complete control over their data. “You need to know what data you’re putting in,” Ville says. “Security and privacy are not optional—they are the foundation.”
AI coding agents also thrive when integrated into broader ecosystems—connecting with Jira, Slack, Salesforce, or ServiceNow. “The real power of AI emerges when it’s part of the toolchain,” Ville notes. “That’s when it can support not just developers, but the entire organization.” Whether the architecture is centralized, decentralized, or hybrid, AI’s value increases when it connects the dots.
Still, no technology can succeed without proper oversight. Rushing into AI without governance risks fragmentation and inconsistency. According to Ville, companies need robust security policies, role-specific training, and clear human-in-the-loop controls. Customization is also key: both Roo Code and Cline support the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing teams to build plugins, tailor workflows, and extend AI capabilities securely.
AI as a partner, not a replacement
From all this, Ville draws three hard-earned lessons: use AI to move faster, but never trust it blindly; always keep security in mind; and don’t skip testing or review. These aren't just technical best practices—they’re cultural values. AI might amplify our strengths, but the responsibility always stays human.
Looking forward, Ville doesn’t see AI replacing developers. Quite the opposite—he believes it will free them. “We’ll see less repetition and more creativity. The AI handles patterns, so we can focus on solving real problems. That’s the exciting part—it changes what it means to be a developer.”
From coder to orchestrator, from builder to guide, Ville envisions a future where AI coding agents don’t take away the craft—they elevate it.
This is part 1 of a 6-part blog series: From Assistant to Collaborator – How AI Is Changing the Craft of Coding
In the next part, we move from the developer’s desktop to the dynamics of the entire team. We'll explore how AI coding agents are already transforming workflows, reshaping roles, and enabling organizations to scale—not just with people, but with intelligent digital collaborators.
