I do not agree that if cheap code erodes moats, offshoring would have done it already.

I’ve had the unfortunate experience of needing to work with inexpensive contractors located in India, the Philippines, and South America for various projects. While there are certainly talented individuals in all of these regions, you also get what you pay for. I’ve had particularly bad experiences with inexpensive Indian contractors.

Contractors tend to care little about long-term maintainability, the big picture, following patterns, and using thought before implementing features. They often seem hesitant to ask questions, and the resulting code can be worse than the most egregious AI slop I’ve ever seen.

Agentic tools are good at following patterns and documentation, particularly in strongly typed code bases with comprehensive test suites for verification. A few skilled developers with agentic tools can be far more productive and produce higher quality than an army of low-cost contractors. Plus, you eliminate the extra hassle of needing to deal with contractors and their limitations.