We’re All Vibecoding Now: Inside Airtable’s AI‑First Onboarding (2025 Teardown)

1. Why this launch matters

Howie Liu took the stage last week to announce Airtable’s AI‑native makeover. The headline: vibecoding - building software by describing the vibe, not fiddling with schema. ✨

If you loved our 2023 teardown of Airtable’s sign‑up wizard, buckle up. The wizard’s gone; the vibes are here. Catch the OG post for nostalgia.

AI is rewiring onboarding. If your product still marches newbies through 12 obligatory fields, this post will feel like a dispatch from the future (because it is). For teams exploring user onboarding best practices, see our approach to user onboarding.

2. Vibecoding, defined

Picture Mad Libs meets Midjourney, but for relational databases. You toss Omni a sentence, e.g.,“Create a CRM for my startup to track leads and customer relationships”—and watch an app materialize:

1. Typewriter effect animates your prompt (micro‑thrill #1).
   
2. Chat bubble replies in real time, outlining what Omni’s about to build (micro‑thrill #2).
   
3. A few seconds later, a fully‑formed base appears complete with sample data that fills in row by row (micro‑thrill #3).
   

It’s product proof, not social proof: Tempt me with what you can do vs. showing me logos of who's done it.

3. Flashback: the 2023 onboarding wizard

We love that wizard because it let users make tiny, high‑leverage decisions like choose your use case, pick your data types, done. But it still felt like filling out a questionnaire. Fast‑forward to 2025 and Airtable’s replaced the form with a chat.

4. Agentic onboarding teardown

4.1 Rotating landing prompts (personalized in 3 clicks)

Landing hero still shouts, “From idea to app in an instant,” but below the fold the static wizard has been swapped for a rotating typewriter prompt card. → Click New Suggestion and watch three fresh prompts cycle in. → Click I’m not sure and Airtable asks what your company does (I wrote B2B SaaS, 40 people, hiring). Moments later I’m staring at recruiter‑ready templates. 🕺

4.2 The signup gate

The moment you hit Build it now, a minimal email + SSO panel slides in: no password, no confirm‑email‑inbox purgatory. A friendly chat bubble plays out your prompt/Omni convo on the right, turning social proof into product proof.

4.3 Personalize the best starting prompts

Before users ever touch the builder, Airtable presents a role-aware gallery of app ideas. A one-line persona prompt (“Marketing team at a Series B SaaS”) reshuffles the deck in real time so users never face a blank chat box.

4.4 Step into the 2-panel AI builder

OG Airtable: home dashboard → Modal: how do you want to start? → base.

Vibecoding Airtable: dashboard skipped entirely. You’re dropped straight into chat on the left and a live, clickable prototype on the right.

Returning users are encouraged to start with the Agentic AI.

4.5 Agentic helper flows

After the AI builds the basics, a spinner declares Adding AI‑powered enhancements. Translation: Airtable’s field agents are indexing columns, generating views, and proposing next‑step automations before I even click.

4.6 Publish & iterate

A purple Publish button invites me to share or keep iterating. Undo and version history are one click away, but curiously absent when AI tweaks fields. (Opportunity! 👀)

5. What Airtable nailed 🙌

1. Jobs‑to‑be‑Done entry: Start with what the can build.
   
2. Live product proof: A working artifact beats logos of famous users any day.
   
3. Agentic onboarding: Follow‑up prompts keep momentum high without overwhelming the newbie.
   
4. Smart, real‑time sample data: Eliminates the dreaded blank state: our human brains see progress.‍
5. Micro‑thrills: Typewriter, chat bubbles, row‑by‑row fill—all tiny dopamine hits that say, “We’re working for you.”

6. UX questions to watch 🤔

• Assumption #1: Users trust AI scaffolding. Will heavy‑duty teams double‑check every calculated field anyway?
  
• Assumption #2: Suggested prompts match real‑world JTBD. (I’m a CEO; why recommend SEO Tracker?)
  
• Assumption #3: Chatty interfaces scale. Conversation is slower than clicks; Omni must stay laser‑focused. Today, it has a lot to say.
  
• Agentic onboarding demands clarity on when the agent speaks up and why. Airtable’s off to a slick start, but the balance between helpful and noisy is fragile.

7. Competitors: Lovable, Notion

• Lovable – A fast‑growing indie favorite spotlighted in this r/boltnewbuilders deep‑dive. Their 100 % prompt‑first flow mirrors Airtable’s agentic approach. Evidence that the pattern travels well beyond spreadsheets.
• Notion – While its onboarding still leans menu‑driven, our earlier teardown shows how Notion personalizes first‑run UX. See the analysis. Expect vibecoding hooks to land here soon.

Takeaway: Airtable may be first at enterprise scale, but the vibe‑coding playbook is spreading fast. Get ready for every productivity tool to ship an AI “vibe” prompt by year’s end.

8. Old vs. new onboarding

9. Lessons for agentic onboarding

1. Prompt‑first is the new form‑first. But only if your AI can actually deliver on the prompt.
   
2. Show, don’t sell. Replace testimonial carousels with teaser previews.
   
3. Design for undo. AI moves fast; users need a safety net.
   
4. Instrument the hand‑offs. Know when to switch from AI suggestions to traditional UI affordances.
5. Keep micro‑thrills snappy. Typing animations are fun... until they slow me down.