Griffin on Tech: Tech workforce first in line for AI augmentation

For all the focus on generative AI this year, has it really changed your life that much?

I’ve been asking a lot of people that question a lot over the past few weeks, and the only responses in the affirmative have come from people working in IT.

They include a Kiwi startup founder with big telco clients all over the world, who told me that the use of GenAI tools has dramatically accelerated the company’s product roadmap.

A business transformation leader in a cybersecurity company told me that the use of GenAI had allowed her company’s software development team to achieve a 50% saving in the time devoted to certain projects. That saved time was allowing the team space to breathe, and to think about the aspects of software development that are often overlooked in the rush to ship code - security, compliance, usability.

It’s only natural that the tech workforce has been first in harnessing generative AI. Since the era of the mainframe, tech workers have been quick to adapt new tools that make them more productive. Now they have tools like Github Copilot and AWS CodeWhisperer to automate aspects of software development.

But it goes beyond automating coding. AI tools are appearing that do the same across all aspects of the software development lifecycle, from design and architecture to development, testing, and operating platforms.

In CIO this week, SAP’s global head of AI, Walter Sun, writes that generative AI is changing the enterprise resource planning giant’s software development in three key ways:

“- First, how we build our software and applications 

- Second, what we build into the DevOps cycle tools and platform

- And finally, who can code using natural language conversations, extending programming beyond low coders to no coders.”

The democratisation of tools and skills thanks to GenAI systems is exciting and empowering, but this era needs to be accompanied by a well-considered period of change management within engineering and development teams.

That final point, the use of GenAI-powered tools for low and no code development is a case in point. While we’ve had the likes of Microsoft’s Power Platform available for years, letting you develop simple apps to augment what you already have, GenAI supercharges the ability to build things with little to no need to have any technical skills.

That will require the tech workforce to adapt how it works. It won’t always be a comfortable process, but ultimately has the potential for those in IT, engineering, and software development to work more collaboratively with people across the business they are a part of. That can only be a good thing.

2024 will be the year when the rubber really hits the road on the use of a lot of these tools and workflows in the IT industry will adapt to reflect that. The teams that do so effectively will have a competitive advantage.

Gartner’s seven tips for fostering an AI-augmented developer workforce

1. Instill an AI-first mentality. At the project kickoff, ask how AI techniques, such as predictions and automations, can improve apps.

2. Provide developers with a framework to illustrate when AI is applicable and needed to drive better outcomes.

3. Invest in dedicated AI-augmented solutions to support software engineering roles, tasks and workflows across areas like design, coding, testing and integration.

4. Expand work on the data engineering pipeline to leverage AI enrichment and create metadata to power smart applications.

5. Articulate how development and model-building teams should work together to avoid overlapping responsibilities and ensure smooth app deployment.

6. Collaborate with D&A and AI governance teams on all elements of your AI trust, risk and security management (AI TRiSM) program.

7. Upskill the team. AI is part of the future of the workplace for all roles. It is especially pertinent for software engineers to add to their diverse set of skills.

This is the final Griffin on Tech column for the year. Thanks for reading Tech Blog this year and to those of you who have got in touch with feedback and suggestions. Have a great Christmas and New Year and we’ll see you back here in January for more news and views on where technology is taking us.