The concept of agentic AI absolutely fascinates me. An LLM on its own is already mind-blowing, but building much larger systems where hundreds of specialised LLMs work together as components, with yet another LLM orchestrating how it all works, is a whole other world. The possibilities for automation are endless.

At the end of the day, software systems are just components stitched together to perform seemingly complex tasks, but the logic behind it all is very deterministic. As software engineers, we write lines of code to tell computers to do very specific things, in very specific orders. The computer then executes those instructions in a deterministic way, and we’re left with a very predictable system that can be hard to change or adapt to new requirements.

2024 was a massive year for me, and even that feels like an understatement. I pushed myself to my limits in many ways, but have enjoyed every second of it. After all, if you’re comfortable, you’re not growing, right?

My passion for continuous learning kicked into overdrive these past couple of years, leading me down fascinating intellectual paths. Could it be that AI has helped make information more accessible? Or is it that I’ve finally found my calling? I can’t really say for sure, but I’ve found myself deeply immersed in several interconnected domains:

Apologies, this is a long one - clearly I’ve got a lot to say on this subject!

It didn’t take long after ChatGPT was released for me to start seeing how fundamentally this technology could transform software engineering. Not just as another tool in our arsenal, but as something that could redefine what it means to be a software engineer entirely.

The discourse around this has been fascinating. Jump on LinkedIn or X and you’ll see endless debates about whether AI will augment or replace software engineers, whether it’s just another productivity tool or a paradigm shift, whether it’s overhyped or understated. But I think many are missing the real story - it’s not about whether AI will take our jobs, it’s about how it’s already changing the very nature of our profession.

We live in an era where rapid solutions are celebrated. The quicker we solve a problem, the more productive we appear. But what if, in our rush to get to a resolution, we’re missing the mark entirely? Albert Einstein’s timeless quote, “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it”, resonates deeply in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world.

I’ve been contemplating the concept of agentic AI for a while now. The idea that we can create specialised AI agents, each mastering a specific task, and have them work together iteratively struck me as a powerful way to really harness the power of AI to tackle complex problems. After all, that’s how teams of humans working together accomplish amazing outcomes, right?

I first encountered Auto-GPT over a year ago and was intrigued enough to join their Discord community. At that time, the concept of autonomous AI agents was still in its early stages, and Auto-GPT was pioneering an approach that allowed AI systems to autonomously generate and execute their own goals. This innovative idea resonated with me, reinforcing my belief in the transformative potential of specialised AI agents across various industries.

In June 2024, I had the privilege of travelling from Auckland, New Zealand, to speak at StaffPlus London - an unforgettable experience. Speaking at such a high-profile event, surrounded by so many talented Staff+ Engineers, was truly special. What made this event particularly memorable wasn’t just the prominence of the event but the opportunity to share something that has become deeply important to me: how the timeless teachings of W. Edwards Deming remain as relevant today as ever in the constantly evolving world of technology.

Learning about Deming has led me to another incredible thinker - Russell Ackoff. Born in 1919, Ackoff is best known for his contributions to Systems Thinking.

In one of his lectures, From Mechanistic to Systemic Thinking, Ackoff discusses systems and the difference between analysis and synthesis. He explains that the essential properties of a system are unique to the system as a whole. These properties arise from the interactions between the parts of the system. In other words, a system is more than the sum of its parts; it is the product of their interactions.