About the event
Balancing Engineering Speed & Quality in the Age of AI
AI is changing how software gets built. But as engineering teams generate and ship code faster, how do they make sure quality keeps pace?
In September, Burns Sheehan brought together Staff, Principal and Lead Engineers for a roundtable led by Apurva Deshpande, Principal Engineer at Rightmove, and Jonathan Ruckwood, Staff Engineer at Mapbox.
The discussion explored where AI is adding value, how teams are building guardrails into their workflows and what senior engineers need to own as AI-assisted development becomes more common.
🔗 View & download the key takeaways sheet here.
Key takeaways:
AI can help teams test ideas earlier. Engineers shared how they’re using it for prototyping, repetitive tasks and large-scale code changes. Quick prototypes can also make product conversations more concrete and reveal weak ideas before significant engineering time is committed.
Clear direction makes AI more useful. Breaking work into smaller stages, defining constraints and reviewing decisions along the way gives engineers more opportunities to spot problems and change course.
Engineering judgement remains essential. AI can produce code quickly, but engineers still need the depth to recognise a wrong answer and understand the consequences of a technical decision. Tests, coding standards, secure deployment processes and human review remain critical.
More code isn’t the measure of success. The group discussed looking beyond output to customer value, reliability and maintainability when judging whether AI is making a team more effective.
The conversation also raised a practical caution: prompts, agents and other supporting systems need to earn their place. They create another layer for teams to maintain, so their value should outweigh that added complexity.
About the roundtable
This was a small, discussion-led session for senior individual contributors and technical leaders to compare what they’re seeing in their own teams. Thank you to Apurva, Jonathan and everyone who joined us and shared their experiences.
At Burns Sheehan, we bring engineering communities together to share challenges, learn from peers and build lasting connections. You can also read the takeaways from a previous session: Roadmap to Engineering Leadership.
If you're keen to learn more or get involved, reach out to our event organiser and Principal Software Engineering consultant, Tom Pearson.
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