This hands-on, three-hour workshop is for software engineers, technical staff, and technical enthusiasts who want to move beyond experimentation and learn how to effectively integrate AI coding agents into real development workflows. The session balances technical execution with governance, security, and team dynamics. While open to a broader audience, the workshop assumes baseline technical fluency and is not intended for introductory programming or deep, individualized troubleshooting.

The workshop begins with a candid, experience-based talk on transitioning to an AI-first development model within an enterprise application services team. Drawing on a real AI coding assistant pilot, the session explores how experienced developers evolved from writing code line-by-line to managing and directing AI agents across architecture, implementation, testing, and documentation. Participants will examine how this shift affected productivity, developer happiness, code quality, and long-term maintainability, as well as the trade-offs encountered along the way. The talk highlights practical lessons learned, and the decision-making frameworks used to responsibly adopt AI tooling while meeting privacy, security, compliance, and operational obligations.

The remainder of the workshop is highly interactive and execution focused. Participants will configure an AI coding agent on their own device and integrate it into a real development workflow using an editor or IDE, version control, and GitHub. Working in small groups, attendees will rapidly design, build, and iterate on a simple application, emphasizing architectural clarity, collaborative development, and AI-assisted execution. The session concludes with short group demos and reflections, giving participants a clear, practical understanding of where AI coding agents deliver genuine value in software development and where traditional engineering practices remain essential.