We will begin by looking at both the exciting and inspirational potential of recent breakthroughs in AI, and the dangers inherent in using AI assistants in our development process. I’ll examine the productivity, pace and product potential of teams who incorporate AI into their process, and highlight some of the ethical, security and legal exposure that companies risk when they incorporate AI-generated code.
The focus of the talk will be on the shape of engineering teams and how they work – including how they have changed over time with the advent of Agile and DevOps – and suggest how this will change as AI-generated code becomes mainstream.
At this point, I will highlight a risk that gets very little airtime – the risk to the quality of engineering talent if their problem-solving (and therefore learning) is neglected, and the holes in skills that will cause and the risks that arise from it.
The talk will then focus on the shifts that need to take place in the structure and skills of engineers to embrace this new world: explaining the role of a junior, how progression will work in the future, and the intentionality required by organisations to protect themselves from – and mitigate – the risks.
