There's a lot of hype right now about how AI is disrupting, well, just about everything. We decided to cut through the noise and hand the mic directly to a handful of Malt's freelancers who are on the front lines of rapidly changing client demands, and the technologies that may or may not make them possible.
As independents, tech freelancers are essentially free radicals with their finger on the pulse of rapidly evolving technology. In 2025, the possibilities are changing at a lightning fast pace. In order to get a better idea of how this breathtaking acceleration is affecting our community, we spoke with four tech freelancers across EMEA to understand how they're experiencing this technological revolution firsthand.
We asked them:
Our hunt led us to four insightful experts, providing a diverse array of perspectives on the vast tech landscape. Read on for more!
Maxime Marsal, a full-stack developer specializing in AI and automation in France, describes the dizzying pace of change: "There is a new revolution every day, it's completely insane. You always feel like you’re behind, even when you’re an expert."
Maxime highlights what may be the most transformative shift for developers specifically: the emergence of "vibe coding"—a term coined by Andrej Karpathy, a co-founder of OpenAI and former AI director at Tesla, first published in a post on X on February 2, 2025. As Andrej explained, vibe coding is a process where you use LLMs to produce the code for you, or as he put it: “You fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.” Certain tools like Cursor, Lovable, and Windsurf allow Maxime to vibe code and outpace competitors despite admittedly not being "the best coder in the world."
"I can build in full stack mode in a coding language I don't even know," he explains. I think that "my learning curve has been incredible... Since January it’s actually possible to build a full app, including heavy backend deployment, front end, everything… in only one month with AI."
This level of efficiency has profound implications. Projects that used to take months now take only weeks, and those that required weeks of work can be completed in mere days. Maxime boldly predicts that "project managers will have the power of a whole development team," and when asked if coding skills might become irrelevant within five years, he responds with a sobering, "Yeah. Unless you're a super expert in your field."
"There is a new revolution every day, it's completely insane. You always feel like you’re behind, even when you’re an expert.""
As AI democratizes production capabilities, Jonathan Taylor, an AI strategist and implementation specialist from the UK, notes that technical challenges are increasingly linked to integration rather than development itself. When anything is possible, a customer wants just that: but limitations can still exist.
He speaks to a lot of businesses day to day, and they generally ask him about AI: How can they use it in their businesses? How can they leverage it to reduce operational costs? “They’re suffering from tariff changes and other global economic changes,” he says, and want to find reasonable ways to cut costs.
One of the things that’s struck him over the last 12 months is that “companies struggle with off-the-shelf software that they’ve purchased.” He goes on further: “It either doesn't do everything they want it to do, what they need it to do, it's restrictive, or the developers of the software can't keep up with the clients demands.” Jonathan is called in to assess the situation as an independent expert: “I try to figure out what’s not working. It depends on the software, but for example clients will give me ten things they want it to do, and it can maybe do five or eight of them.”
According to Jonathan, since the start of the year a lot of companies are finding themselves unsatisfied with their software purchases. "AI’s not the problem—it’s the software that promises the moon and delivers a postcard. Businesses often end up with vapourware, 'vibe coding', and security problems they didn’t sign up for—style over substance, and no one’s safe."
With expertise spanning from software coding, to training AI agents, Jonathan is a seasoned pro and founder of The Automation Agency. He specializes in crafting tailored AI solutions, with standout products like "CX Hero"—an advanced AI-powered digital assistant designed for seamless integration into customer-facing environments. Deployed through interactive kiosks, CX Hero offers multilingual, lifelike support and provides real-time, context-aware assistance to enhance customer engagement in high-traffic sectors like retail, hospitality, and healthcare.
“There’s a lot of software coming out thick and fast - it’s a lamb dressed up as something else, and unfortunately it can’t always do what the client expects it to do.”"
When it comes to the question of vibe coding, he notes that approximately 80% of his code is AI-generated but emphasizes that his 18 years of coding experience remains crucial in order to be able to troubleshoot and perfect the code: "It wouldn't work nearly as well if I didn't have nearly 20 years of experience."
Both Maxime and Jonathan agree that as AI accelerates production capabilities, the competitive edge is shifting toward distribution, marketing, and creativity. As Maxime puts it: "Tomorrow the big thing will be the distribution rather than the production... I believe it will be the era of marketing and creativity."
Ahmed Yousri, a Data Strategy & AI Engagement Manager based in the UAE, brings a different perspective—one focused on strategic implementation rather than technical development. With 16 years of experience in data consultancy, Ahmed has witnessed extraordinary changes in regional technology adoption.
"The AI and machine learning adoption has changed a lot since I was an Analytics Consultant six years ago," he notes. "The region wasn't ready back then. Now we have a strategic push from the government, we even have a Ministry of AI. This is not just a matter of hype or experiment, it's a strategic direction from the top-down leadership." This echoes recent government initiatives in Europe, where in France specifically the government committed to investing more than 100 billion euros in AI following the AI Action Summit in Paris in February.
For Ahmed in particular, this shift has transformed his work from primarily creating proofs of concept and visual analytics to implementing business-critical AI systems. "Nowadays, businesses need GenAI to make call centers available 24/7 in multiple languages " he explains, noting that the "benefits became obvious to everyone."
Ahmed credits his adaptability to continuous learning, including a six-month program from London Business School on preparing business cases and market research. "Anyone can learn anything actually," he reflects. "I learned business along the way. This gave me the advantage to be a key player, to be adaptable and to drive end-to-end engagement from idea to business impact."
"This is not just a matter of hype or experiment, it's a strategic direction from the top-down leadership.""
Aashwin Shrivastava, a full-stack AI developer working in Germany, highlights perhaps the most challenging aspect of working with cutting-edge AI: managing unpredictability and aligning properly on client expectations.
"Things which were not possible one month ago are suddenly possible," he explains. "Sometimes we develop something that seems amazing, groundbreaking—but we know that if we don't market it well enough, three months later people will either copy it or we'll lose out because the noise regarding AI will drown out the innovation in our solutions."
"Things which were not possible one month ago are suddenly possible.""
The rapidity of innovation, according to Aashwin, means that “many people are still relatively unaware of the new possibilities and immense value that AI is capable of bringing into their business.” He sights a handful of examples, such as:
One potential point of friction comes from customers' uncertainty or limited understanding, which can lead to misaligned expectations. "It is important to communicate very explicitly, and clearly inform customers what results can be expected, and which results are likely to be generated but not guaranteed.” He goes further on to explain that “the level of accuracy depends on the quality and variety of the input data.”
All four freelancers mentioned the challenge of client expectations. Maxime observed that "the front line of what's happening with AI is moving so fast that the clients can't adapt their needs quickly enough," while Jonathan notes that clients “want solutions immediately." He blames “the culture of next-day delivery.”
Beyond technical and business considerations, these freelancers are witnessing firsthand the societal implications of accelerated AI development.
Jonathan is candid about the potential disruption: "If I could develop a certain software tomorrow, five people would lose their jobs." He believes political leaders need to "start kicking up a gear" regarding AI-related governance, such as universal income initiatives for those who may find themselves without work.
Aashwin brings a more philosophical perspective: "Even though I would like to have an idealistic view on things — what I think will happen practically is that society will encounter problems: I have met a lot of business people; not all of them think about how their decisions affect society. The most pressing thing for many decision makers is solely how to increase shareholder value."
Despite AI's growing capabilities, all four freelancers emphasize that human expertise remains invaluable—not necessarily for production work, but for judgment, integration, and strategic direction.
As Jonathan puts it when discussing the risks of inexperienced developers using AI coding tools: "It's the human that has no knowledge of how systems are put together and just goes on ChatGPT and says 'can you write me this thing'—it's going to do it, but not properly."
For freelancers navigating this new terrain, the message is clear: technical skills remain important, but the ability to guide implementation, manage expectations, and think strategically about business applications is becoming the true differentiator in a world where AI increasingly handles the execution.
Navigating this AI revolution requires a unique blend of technical acumen, strategic foresight, and human empathy. Freelancers who thrive will be those who embrace continuous learning, master the art of communication, and understand that while AI automates tasks, it's human ingenuity and insight that truly drive innovation and progress. As we head further into 2025 and beyond, these frontline experts will continue to illuminate the path forward, reminding us that technology, at its best, is about empowering people, not replacing them.
