Making Sense of Agentic AI | ThoughtWorks’ Birgitta Boeckeler
How (not) to govern a programming language, Reddit the AI darling?, and more.
There’s AI agents. There’s AI tooling. Do either drive business impact or are they just more things your dev team is supposed to stay on top of?
Birgitta Boeckeler, Global Lead for AI Assisted Software Delivery at ThoughtWorks, joins the show to discuss the practical applications of AI in software delivery. She shares her research on AI agents, highlights areas where AI hasn't lived up to the hype, and offers concrete examples of useful AI tools for development teams.
Dan Lines then joins the conversation to provide his perspective on how engineering leaders can leverage these insights to effectively implement AI within their own teams. He also discusses LinearB's efforts in helping software teams measure the business impact of AI.
“There's something weird going on with these marketing videos where even the use cases that they choose for the video often don't make sense.”
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. How (not) to Govern a Programming Language
In "Apple is Killing Swift,"
argues that Apple's tight control over the Swift programming language is hindering its growth and potential. He compares Swift's governance model with those of Python, Rust, and Kotlin, highlighting the drawbacks of Apple's dictatorial approach.“A great language strangled by governance”
2. Elevate Your Skills with 200 Hands-On Coding Projects
Looking to contribute to an open source project but don’t know where to start?
This curated list of 200 project ideas caters to both beginner and experienced developers, offering a comprehensive path for learning and practicing. Each project includes a detailed description, suggested tech stack, key features, learning goals, and ways to contribute to open-source development.
Read: 🔥 200 Project Ideas from Beginner to Advanced with Open Source Contributions 🚀
3. Reddit, the unexpected AI darling?
Reddit, the 19-year-old platform known for its chaotic and unfiltered content, is experiencing a surge in users. Ironically, this may be due to Reddit’s perceived lack of AI, making it “both the benefactor of, and the antidote to an internet suffocating under algorithmic polish.”
Read: The Reddit Paradox: How AI is Driving Users Back to the Internet’s Most Un-AI Misfit
2025 Engineering Benchmarks Insights (sponsored)
Level up your engineering team's performance in 2025.
LinearB's latest Engineering Benchmarks Report – analyzing over 6 million pull requests from 3,000 organizations worldwide – reveals the ins-and-outs of the software industry’s most successful teams.
Insights from this year’s report focus on Developer Productivity and Developer Experience.
Join industry leaders for a roundtable discussion on November 20th and learn how to improve your team's DORA metrics, pull request workflows, and predictability.
Register today for the event and receive a free copy of the report!
4. Breakout of the ‘monolithic maze’ with micro frontends
If you haven’t already listened to
breakdown what it means to breakout of the monolith, check out her episode from earlier this year on micro frontends.Upcoming Events
Virtual event: 2025 Engineering Benchmarks Insights
Register for this virtual event and be the first to explore the Developer Productivity and Experience insights from the 2025 Software Engineering Benchmarks Report.
Session Times:
11am ET on November 20, 2024
11am GMT on November 21, 2024