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Agentic Engineering at Scale

Building reliable harnesses for coding agents

Author: Chris Ford

Agentic Engineering at Scale book cover

Bring coding agents to complex, production systems

 

Developers are finding agentic coding can deliver significant wins, making it possible to do more complex and sophisticated work faster than before. However, despite this wave of success, translating these gains to real-world software engineering work is another matter.

 

In other words, how do you make agentic coding work for legacy systems and production code?

 

In this new book, currently available as part of O'Reilly's Early Release initiative, Thoughtworker Chris Ford provides developers with everything they need to bring their knowledge and experience of AI to bear on their day-to-day work. 

Reverse engineer legacy codebases

Learn how to use AI agents to understand fragmented, undocumented and opaque systems

Ensure consistency and reliability

Leverage harness engineering techniques to improve agent feedback loops for increased control.

Create and evolve specs

Explore how spec-driven development can help you better leverage agents without falling into old waterfall patterns.

From experimentation to organizational transformation

Drive and support effective and sustainable adoption initiatives that embed agentic coding across teams.
Reverse engineer legacy codebases

Learn how to use AI agents to understand fragmented, undocumented and opaque systems

Ensure consistency and reliability

Leverage harness engineering techniques to improve agent feedback loops for increased control.

Create and evolve specs

Explore how spec-driven development can help you better leverage agents without falling into old waterfall patterns.

From experimentation to organizational transformation

Drive and support effective and sustainable adoption initiatives that embed agentic coding across teams.

Chris Ford, Thoughtworks

Chris Ford

Technology Director, Thoughtworks

Chris is a Technology Director at Thoughtworks responsible for aviation, retail, consumer, travel and transportation across Europe. He's a veteran with more than a decade as a Thoughtworks consultant and leverages our global expertise to deliver impactful solutions for his clients.

 

He's a recognized expert in data, architecture, and agile software development, sharing his insights through public speaking and writing. He provides contextualized advice to help organizations navigate the complexities of business and technology. He has a proven track record of improving software delivery effectiveness for companies in Australia, the UK, the US, India, Uganda, Spain, and Germany.

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