Inside AI/works™: An agentic development platform

More from Thoughtworks Technology Podcast

1. 

   2 Apr 2026 · 41 min

   How it feels to be a software engineer when AI is changing our relationship with code

   There's been a lot of discussion and debate in recent months about exactly how software engineering will be reshaped by AI. While it remains to be seen what the discipline will look like once things quieten down (if they ever do), one thing has been somewhat neglected: what does software engineering actually feel like in this AI-intensive environment? If we're no longer writing code, or even interfacing with it in the way we're used to, what does that mean for our professional experience? On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by Nate Schutta to discuss the…

2. 

   19 Mar 2026 · 46 min

   Be brilliant at the basics: Inside Looking Glass 2026

   The Thoughtworks 2026 Looking Glass report was published in January. Designed to provide business and technology leaders with the tools to better understand and navigate future trends, this edition paid particularly close attention to what organizations need to do to reach a level of AI maturity that will effectively unlock an operational and commercial edge. Taking in everything from AI-assisted software delivery to AI-ready data, it bridges the gaps between what the world is doing today, what will be possible in the months to come and what may be coming on the horizon in the long-term. To…

3. 

   5 Mar 2026 · 38 min

   Durable computing: What is it and why now?

   Managing distributed systems and complex workflows can be challenging. What happens when something fails? If a task isn't executed to completion, that can lead to serious problems. From transaction and billing failures to deploying software, even small issues can have significant consequences. This is one of the reasons for durable computing. Designed to isolate code from crashes, it preserves state so a task is completed even when something fails. To discuss durable computing, explore why it matters today and how we've been using it at Thoughtworks, Brandon Cook and John Coleman join host…

4. 

   5 Feb 2026 · 39 min

   Unlearning, experimentation and engineering rigor in an agentic world

   In a world that's being transformed by AI agents and agentic systems, how do software developers unlearn what they know while also maintaining engineering rigor? In an in-person conversation with Nathen Harvey, Developer Relations Engineer at Google Cloud, and Patrick Debois, Developer Relations at Tessl, host Ken Mugrage dives into the ways individuals, teams and organizations are walking the line between experimentation and well-established engineering practices as they seek to innovate while ensuring resilience, reliability and security. Thoughtworks is a platinum sponsor of the 2025 DORA…

5. 

   22 Jan 2026 · 38 min

   Exploring AI agent platforms

   If AI agents really are the future of how work will be done — in software engineering and beyond — the platforms on which they are built, run and maintained will be crucial. This is a topic two Thoughtworkers, Ben O'Mahony and Fabian Nonnenmacher, are currently writing about. Although not due to be published until early 2027, the first two chapters of Building AI Agent Platforms are now available as part of O'Reilly's Early Release scheme. Its goal is to provide readers with a complete roadmap for developing AI agent platforms, from agent development to architectural principles to…

6. 

   8 Jan 2026 · 35 min

   Architecture antipatterns and pitfalls: Good intentions, bad habits and ugly consequences

   You can grasp the basics of software architecture by learning design patterns, but you probably won't master it — to do that you have to get to grips with antipatterns too. Often these lessons are hard-won through experience, derived from seeing what happens when architectural decisions (or the lack of them) collide with the messy reality of the real world. While there's obviously no replacement for practical experience, Neal Ford, Mark Richards and Raju Gandhi want to share theirs to give architects the opportunity to avoid common antipatterns and pitfalls and make smarter decisions. That's…

7. 

   1 Oct 2026 · 37 min

   Data products, data agents and semantic layers: Exploring Microsoft Fabric

   The way we think about and build with data is changing. Data lakehouses have become an industry standard, and conversation is turning to semantic and governance layers as organizations seek to optimize and leverage data for the AI era. However, the concept of 'data products' — treating data as something that needs to be deliberately managed and packaged in a way that's easily usable and consumable for the people that need it — remains crucial. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Nate Schutta is joined by Thoughtworks colleague and Data and AI Lead Lorisa Perdoci and Lauren…

8. 

   17 Sep 2026 · 38 min

   Rethinking the software development process for an era of specs and AI agents

   The agentic era of software engineering began almost a year ago. And while much has changed in 2026, there's still a lot that hasn't been settled. One of the most important issues is how teams should collaborate. The idea of working with a spec may have considerable allure, but many questions remain: How should it be defined? Who owns it? How do we iterate with it? The fear of retreating back into waterfall is very real and requires vigilance. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Ken Mugrage and Caer Sanders are joined by former Thoughtworkers Cassie Shum (formerly VP of…

9. 

   3 Sep 2026 · 39 min

   Open-weight models: What are they and when should you use them?

   We've seen a huge amount of increase in interest around open-weight models in 2026. The reasons for this are multifaceted, ranging from the switch to per token billing, the evolving privacy landscape and improvements in open-weight model capabilities. To unpack open-weight models and explore why and when we might want to use them, host Ken Mugrage is joined by Thoughtworkers Caer Sanders and Andre Almar. They discuss everything from the precise definition of the term and how they compare to other kinds of models, to governance and hardware challenges.

10. 

    20 Aug 2026 · 43 min

    AI-generated code: What has to be true for us to trust it without looking at it?

    We've been thinking a lot recently about the status of code in a world where it's increasingly written and read by AI. Could the spec, for instance, become the primary way we interface with software systems? And if it does, will that mean humans no longer need to look at code at all? At present, the idea of not looking at our code seems fanciful, possibly dangerous, but even within Thoughtworks there are conflicting perspectives about whether this might change. To some, code will always remain the primary artifact; to others, its role in how we build software is about to undergo a…

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