10 ways GenAI improves software development

The final stage: GenAI agents will be the next Agile

As GenAI matures further, it could redefine Agile, as it automates most Agile stages and continually shifts among them. AI “agents” will, likely for example, autonomously understand requirements, break down problems and generate code. Different AI agents will likely communicate and collaborate, much as people do today. These agents will improve themselves, automatically upgrading algorithms and strategies. With so much “experience” (i.e., data) on generating, testing, reviewing and improving code, these GenAI agents could predict user needs, maintenance requirements and potential system failures.

Development would no longer start with studies and plans. You could go straight to prototyping, telling GenAI to give you options. The drop in costs and time, and the rise in quality, could make even more new business models possible. Yet the need for skilled engineers will remain. Humans will need to creatively develop algorithms, architectures and user experiences to carefully instruct AI agents and to rigorously oversee them every step of the way.

Time to rethink ways of working

You’ll only get these benefits if your developers can dynamically prompt AI, with continual validation and iteration. They begin by dividing the task into small pieces since GenAI models excel with finely segmented projects. Developers next prompt the model to generate preliminary outputs — which they evaluate and use to give GenAI an even better prompt. As the cycle repeats, outputs can quickly approach optimal solutions.

If your people can identify “patterns” in GenAI use cases — similar tasks in different software projects and development stages — they can help scale up GenAI (and its value) quickly. And as GenAI automates routine tasks and enables developers to “try out” complex solutions quickly, developers can be more innovative and imaginative than ever. In our experience at PwC, developers thrive when you let them “play” with GenAI, either freeform (with appropriate guardrails) or in hackathons. Playful exploration can quickly become innovation and a serious competitive advantage.