Research-Driven Engineering Leadership

RDEL #143: How does deepening AI fluency change what it means to be a software developer?

Research reveals a four-stage journey from skeptic to strategist, and a new "creative director of code" identity.

22 hrs ago

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RDEL #142: How do Next Edit Suggestions in AI-integrated IDEs introduce new security risks?

Roughly 75% of NES suggestions in security-critical contexts introduced or propagated vulnerabilities, and only 12% of developers verify security…

May 5

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April 2026

RDEL #141: How can engineering leaders calculate the return on their AI investments?

AI acts as an amplifier of existing systems, and a sample first-year ROI of 39% only materializes after teams budget for a J-Curve productivity dip.

Apr 28

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RDEL #140: How do technical interviews change when AI coding assistants are allowed?

Evaluation criteria stayed the same, but the evidence required shifted, and rising productivity expectations created new tensions with expertise.

Apr 21

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RDEL #139: How does codebase familiarity shape collaboration with coding agents?

Both groups delegate toil to agents, but core developers review more intensely, modify more often, and enforce CI checks more consistently.

Apr 14

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RDEL #138: Where do all the tokens go in agentic software engineering?

Input tokens account for 54% of total usage in agentic coding systems, revealing a costly "communication tax" as AI agents repeatedly pass full contexts…

Apr 7

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March 2026

RDEL #137: What kinds of new debt are teams accumulating with AI?

Research proposes that software health depends on three layers — code, understanding, and intent — and AI is shifting the balance between them.

Mar 31

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RDEL #136: How can engineering leaders assess their AI maturity?

A research-driven framework identifies five stages of AI maturity and six capability areas that determine whether AI improves engineering outcomes

Mar 24

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RDEL #135: How did Google turn AI IDE features into measurable productivity gains?

Developers adopted Transform Code and shipped 17.5% more changes per month, but the gains came from systematic experimentation across the full stack …

Mar 17

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RDEL #134: How is AI already reshaping the software engineering labor market?

New research combining real usage data with labor market analysis finds AI's biggest impact so far is on entry-level hiring in exposed occupations, not…

Mar 10

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RDEL #133: Does using AI to code come at the cost of learning?

Not all AI usage is equal: developers who asked conceptual questions scored 65-86% on skills tests, while those who only delegated code generation…

Mar 3

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February 2026

RDEL #132: Why do developers love AI tools but report modest productivity gains?

New research reveals a weak link between AI tool satisfaction and time savings, and identifies productivity gaps in how we measure developer experience.

Feb 24

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