Context engineering: Tackling legacy systems with generative AI

More from Thoughtworks Technology Podcast

1. 

   2 Oct 2025 · 20 min

   What we're talking about when we talk about context engineering

   Everyone seems to be talking about context engineering. That was certainly the case in our recent discussions for the upcoming edition of the Technology Radar (volume 33, due early November 2025). And although we ran into the term on the Technology Podcast just a few weeks ago , we thought it would be useful to try and tackle exactly what people are talking about when they talk about context engineering. We know context is important when it comes to AI, but what does it mean to engineer it? On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host and Thoughtworks CTO Rachel Laycock is joined by…

2. 

   18 Sep 2025 · 28 min

   Mean time to shared understanding: Bridging the gap between citizen developers and developers

   Although the concept of the 'citizen developer' isn't new, with the rise of AI the relationship between those building software without much technical experience and seasoned software developers is becoming more significant. That's not to say there's conflict exactly, but there are often competing interests and demands — which can lead to tension, organizational friction and governance challenges. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage facilitates a debate (of sorts) between Christopher Hastings, Global Tech Product Lead at Thoughtworks (and citizen developer) and Scott…

3. 

   4 Sep 2025 · 43 min

   Organizational design and Team Topologies after AI

   Managing technological change in an organization — particularly a large and complex one — has always been challenging. But thanks to the rapid adoption of AI in all kinds of spheres, from knowledge management to software development to content creation, it's becoming more difficult than ever. How do you strike a balance between governance and safety and autonomy and empowerment? How should teams be structured and how should they work together? In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais — authors of the influential Team Topologies book — join hosts Birgitta…

4. 

   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…

5. 

   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…

6. 

   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.

7. 

   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…

8. 

   6 Aug 2026 · 45 min

   Scaling the enterprise harness: How to achieve AI agent controllability across an organization

   Harness engineering is still a new concept, but already we've noticed a challenge being consistently faced by technology leaders: how can a harness be used at scale across an organization to ensure consistency and controllability without undermining autonomy? To some extent it's a discussion that's reminiscent of platform engineering and, before that, DevOps, but, given the nature of AI agents, it's also unique to this particular moment. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by guests Thomas Squeo (Chief Technology Officer and Head of Advisory for the…

9. 

   23 Jul 2026 · 31 min

   Embracing hybrid AI: How Lenovo is leveraging local, on-device AI

   Cloud was one of the main drivers of the early waves of AI adoption. However, as AI has become more and more embedded in systems and devices — in both consumer and enterprise contexts — it's becoming a bottleneck. This isn't just about costs (although yes, that issue is certainly surging up the agenda), it's also about how we optimize our architectures and improve device performance. This is why conversation is turning to hybrid AI: embracing a hybrid approach that combines proprietary cloud services with local or on-device AI can help organizations deliver better experiences for users,…

10. 

    9 Jul 2026 · 46 min

    What does the future of software engineering look like?

    At the end of June, Thoughtworks and Martin Fowler convened an unconference-style event in Switzerland with a range of industry leaders. The aim was to reflect on the current challenges and learning around AI assisted and agentic software engineering and discuss the implications for the future — and, most importantly, what actions need to be taken today. To review the event and dive into some of the topics that surfaced, host Ken Mugrage is joined by Thoughtworks colleagues Kief Morris (author of Infrastructure as Code ) and Andrew Harmel-Law (author of Facilitating Software Architecture ).…

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