Agentic Engineering

Two posts back, I used Kent Beck’s 3X framework to argue that agentic engineering gets read at different phases of maturity depending on how far you sit from the code. Last post, I argued that more code isn’t enough. Agents compress execution to nearly free, but judgment is still as critical as ever: deciding what to build, owning intent, understanding the result well enough to steer the next loop.

In my last post using Kent Beck’s 3X Framework, I argued that agentic engineering is being perceived at different phases of maturity depending on where you sit. Executives believe the systems are mature, in Extract. Practitioners are doing the work of Expand. The practice, the tools, the workflows are still churning in Explore.

Agentic engineering is happening at a breakneck pace, and many are wondering if they are making the “right” decisions and using the “right” approaches. I’ve been a proponent of not chasing the newest fad, but to instead learn about what’s being used across the industry and keeping your options open.