Frontend Crew Talk: When tools move faster than us

Frontend developers in 2026 are spoiled for choice. New frameworks promising freedom, AI assistants promising to handle the boring parts. But between the framework debates and the quiet burnout, what actually delivers in day-to-day work?
About the event
Join us on Tuesday, May 26, for an evening focused on the honest reality of frontend development in 2026. Four engineers from Applifting and Mews will share what's actually working—and what isn't—in framework decisions, AI workflows, and the human side of keeping up with constant change.
Let's meet in the Applifting meetup space, both in person and online. We’ll start at 18:00.
Who’s speaking?
Michal Čížek, senior frontend developer at Applifting, will open with a side-by-side comparison of Next.js and TanStack Start—two frameworks with fundamentally different philosophies—to help you pick for your next project.
Jan Marek, senior software engineer at Mews, will follow with how frustration and laziness can guide useful AI workflows, automating each “I don't want to do this manually” from Slack thread to announcement.
Tereza Šimková, also a senior frontend developer at Applifting, will offer an honest, non-technical look at the hidden psychological toll of working with AI coding assistants.
Then, they will be joined for the panel discussion by Matyas Mihálka, frontend tech lead at Applifting, bringing a grounded take on what AI coding tools actually deliver day-to-day and how to adopt them without burning out.