How I work, in three principles.
When my CV-builder's templates mixed layout and editing logic and got hard to maintain, I split them into a shared engine and thin "skins." One template dropped from ~708 to ~343 lines — the same bug no longer needs fixing in three places.
Every feature is judged by one question first: does this make it clearer for the person using it? The UX leads — the tech is there to serve it, never the other way around.
AI helps me move faster, but I don't ship what I can't explain or maintain. Every architecture decision, every data model, every line is something I can walk you through and defend. The tools speed me up; the understanding is mine.