Learn to Code With AI
Wed Jan 28 2026
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Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.”
Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the mindset + foundations), Level 2 is where AI becomes your learning accelerator, and Level 3 is about generating code responsibly, without falling into the “vibe coding” trap.
We also talk about why coding feels so foreign to CLI lifers, why so many “slick” courses lose beginners, and how to use AI like Google-on-steroids. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not smart enough for this” or “I don’t have time,” this one’s for you.
What we cover:
- Why network engineers struggle with coding (and it’s not your fault)
- The difference between using AI while coding vs vibe coding
- How to build foundations that make AI actually useful
- Why libraries matter, and how Level 2 focuses on network automation libraries
- Career reality: why Python shows up in job descriptions everywhere
Find Erika:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCkWURMuDQZox53bskCFS6vw
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikadietrick/
This episode has been sponsored by Meter.
Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now!
You can support the show at the link below.
Support the show
Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng
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Send us a text Erika Dietrick (aka “Erika the Dev”) is back on the show, and she’s days away from a major life change (welcome, Baby Dev). In this follow-up conversation, we dig into the thing that keeps coming up in network engineering careers: programming is no longer a “nice-to-have.” Erika breaks down her free YouTube course designed specifically for network engineers: Level 1 is “programmatic thinking” (the mindset + foundations), Level 2 is where AI becomes your learning accelerator, and Level 3 is about generating code responsibly, without falling into the “vibe coding” trap. We also talk about why coding feels so foreign to CLI lifers, why so many “slick” courses lose beginners, and how to use AI like Google-on-steroids. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m not smart enough for this” or “I don’t have time,” this one’s for you. What we cover: - Why network engineers struggle with coding (and it’s not your fault) - The difference between using AI while coding vs vibe coding - How to build foundations that make AI actually useful - Why libraries matter, and how Level 2 focuses on network automation libraries - Career reality: why Python shows up in job descriptions everywhere Find Erika: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCkWURMuDQZox53bskCFS6vw LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikadietrick/ This episode has been sponsored by Meter. Go to meter.com/aone to book a demo now! You can support the show at the link below. Support the show Find everything AONE right here: https://linktr.ee/artofneteng