Speaker
Abstract
I don’t need to tell you that AI has changed software development forever. You know this. Whether you’re positive, negative or indifferent to this change, you can’t deny that the past 2 years have radically changed the role of the software developer.
Just a few years ago I would have advocated for The Balanced Team. A Product Manager, a Product Designer, an Engineering Manager and 4-8 Developers. It worked.
18 months ago I was telling people that “I’ve never seen a dev team get to the end of their backlog, I don’t see that happening”. I’ve seen it now. Actually, I’ve seen it more than once.
The balanced team as we knew it doesn’t work any more.
The seismic shift in software is only just getting started. I don’t offer a proven strategy to navigate this change, we are sailing these turbulent waters together. What I propose is that we go back to fundamentals, refocus on outcomes and evaluate our options for evolving team composition.
In this talk I bring you these options, what I’ve seen work, what I’m ready to throw out, and most importantly, the things I will keep no matter what.
Topics
QCon London 2026 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.
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