Project Management Institute Presentation - How Gen AI Impacts Developers
I did a recent presentation with Navi Kalsi for the Project Management Institute in Canberra.
I thought I would summarise the content here
Isn't AI magic - won't it do everything for me?
No, using generative AI takes human skill to get the best from it. AI can be wrong and you should always iterate by asking more questions. You can get lucky and get the right answer to your question first shot however you typically need to work together and use it is as a Copilot.
Generative AI is transforming the whole developer experience however it needs you.
Software archeology
Looking back 20 years I joined a project where they use mainframes and COBOL. At this time to interpret the business logic in COBOL I needed an expert in this.
Fast forward to today and I can now use GitHub Copilot to ask questions about the code such as:
I don't know COBOL. Can you explain the business logic to me in this file?
As of today it won't process your 10,000 line COBOL file and give you all the answers but it works pretty damn well. If the file is long you can select parts of the file and ask Copilot about these.
All hackers wear hoodies
Until a few years ago we were lucky because the media reassured us that all hackers dress like this in dimly lit rooms. (Joke)
Today Scammers, cyber criminals and nations state actors can all use AI to attack our most important systems. These are not teenagers in hoodies; you don't need to train or manage them; they can work 24x7!
Security is a gate
In 2001 Security was a gate. In a 6 month project due at the end of June the security checks may have taken place at the start of June. This left little time to coordinate with expertise in the organisation and resolve issues. The project manager had to try and get as much fixed as time allowed without causing significant delay to their project. DELAY or FIX was the choice.
Generative AI can help developers solve these problems earlier.Â
I did a demo of GitHub Advanced Security and how it can use AI to suggest security fixes way earlier in the project - common errors can be trapped earlier in the project meaning that last minute security gate is a thing of the past.
Developers need superpowers
Customers, citizens and government ministers demand more. They expect a government website to have security, accessibility and performance of huge multinationals like Instagram or a search engine.
In private sector your competitors are delivering more and more functionality at better quality and it is hard to compete.
We don't have enough coders to do this at this pace and at this quality in our organisations.Â
Summary
AI is already having a profound effect on developers and those around them.
- AI can help developers understand old code
- AI helps security be built in and resolved quickly. Security as a gate is gone.
- Demands on developers are growing and we don’t have enough developers. Our research into how Copilot Workspace can help superpower your developers is showing great promise
My name is Stu, I still live in Canberra and I am a developer.
Thank you!
Link to the event page..