Agents of Dev - AI, Agent & Agentic Development
The Agents of Dev Podcast examines how software developers build and will build applications in the era of AI, agents, and agentic technologies. Futurum Research analysts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin bring both industry analyst and practitioner perspectives to discuss vendor strategies, industry moves, and on-the-ground engineering realities. Each episode explores the innovations, opportunities, and occasional missteps that shape AI-native development. It focuses on how these changes affect the planning, designing, building, deploying, and operating of enterprise software.
Episodes
Google Argon 4, Agent Sandboxing, and System 1 Decisioning with Jev | Agents of Dev Episode 41
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As AI agents move from experimental prompts to autonomous production workflows, developers are facing a brand-new set of infrastructure, governance, and safety challenges.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down takeaways from Microsoft FabCon in Barcelona, highlighting the rise of autonomous database manageme
Is Headless AI Taking Over? Dreamforce Recap, Neo4J Graph Summit & AI Security | Agents of Dev Episode 40
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Are bloated frontier models already becoming obsolete for everyday enterprise workflows?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down fresh takeaways straight off the plane from Salesforce Dreamforce and the Neo4J Graph Summit.
They dive into Salesforce’s new COA model and headless architecture, how graph databases
Beyond AGI Hype: Demystifying AI Harnesses, Context Economics, and Agentic Workflows | Agents of Dev Episode 39
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Is the fear of world-ending AGI a genuine existential threat, or just aggressive marketing designed to protect a massive AI investment bubble?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin cut through the industry noise to examine how software development is actually evolving on the ground.
They unpack key market moves from Cl
Beyond the AI Doomer Hype Harness Engineering, Context Economics, and Agentic Workflows | Agents of Dev Episode 38
Is AI heading toward a dystopian sci-fi nightmare, or are we just watching market hype mask the real architectural shifts happening in software engineering?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin move past the polarities of AI doomerism vs. pure hype to tackle the pragmatic reality of agentic workflows.
They analyze Cloudera’s enterprise sovereignty partnership with Mistra
AWS DuckDB Moves, Fixing "Lazy" AI Agents, and the 2026 AI Budget Reckoning | Agents of Dev Episode 37
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Are enterprise AI budgets running out of control while agentic models pretend to finish tasks they haven't actually completed?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin tackle the biggest developments across cloud infrastructure, AI behavior engineering, and enterprise data strategy.
They start with AWS’s acquisition of Du
Inside the Mind of an Open Source Innovator with Tracy Ragan | Agents of Dev Episode 36
Unvetted AI code generation in your software pipeline is like handing a construction apprentice the keys to a wrecking crane—it might get the job done, but it could just as easily knock down the entire building.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin sit down with open source pioneer Tracy Ragan (CEO of DeployHub and Ortilius community leader) to dissect the state of the m
Model Fatigue, Phantom Fixes, & Toolchain Chaos: Finding Control in Agentic Dev | Agents of Dev Episode 35
Are constantly shifting AI models and phantom fixes driving you to throw away hours of work?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin dive into the real-world frustrations of developer toolchain chaos, model instability, and aggressive pricing shifts in the race for AI dominance. Brad highlights Oracle’s new APEX AI Application Generator and APEX Lang framework, while Mitch
DynamoDB Vectors, Shift Zero Security, and Taming AI Tech Debt | Agents of Dev Episode 34
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As AI moves deeper into software development, keeping up with rapid updates can feel like chasing a moving target.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the biggest shifts transforming the developer ecosystem. Brad explores AWS's new native vector support for DynamoDB and explains why placing vectors i
Stop Reviewing Agent Code? Anthropic, DynamoDB & AI Tech Debt | Agents of Dev Episode 33
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Are your AI agents creating more technical debt than they actually solve?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the fast-moving world of modern AI development, starting with AWS DynamoDB adding native vector support to optimize query latency.
They dig into Black Hat insights like "Shift Zero" intent go
Unifying Data Stacks, Open-Weight Controversies & Google's Anti-Gravity CLI | Agents of Dev Episode 32
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As enterprise AI stacks grow increasingly complex, the race is on to simplify data pipelines, unify developer work surfaces, and tame ballooning token costs.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the biggest shifts across database architecture, agentic tools, and AI infrastructure.
They explore Regatta
Securing AI Agents: Snowflake CSTO Mayank Upadhyay on Cortex AI Gateway Presented by Snowflake | Agents of Dev Episode 31
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As enterprise AI evolves from simple chatbots into autonomous agents, traditional security methods are no longer enough to protect your company's crown jewels.
In this episode of Agents of Dev presented by Snowflake, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin sit down with Mayank Upadhyay, Chief Security and Trust Officer at Snowflake, to dive into th
How Red Team/Blue Team AI, JSpace, & Agentic IDEs Are Changing Development | Agents of Dev Episode 30
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What happens when you pit Google Gemini against Anthropic Claude in a "red team/blue team" duel to fact-check AI research, or peek inside an LLM’s subconscious "Jacobian Space"?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, analysts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore the rapidly evolving landscape of AI engineering and how modern tools are turning every
Inside Google’s OKF, Linux Appia, and Ornith 1.0 Self-Scaffolding Models | Agents of Dev Episode 29
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Can autonomous AI agents finally be trusted to modify your enterprise code bases and databases without a human handholding them?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, analysts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the explosive evolution of the agentic control plane.
From the newly launched Linux Appia Foundation mapping out AI conformity to Goog
Databricks LTAP Collapsing the Wall Between OLAP and OLTP | Agents of Dev Episode 28
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AI agents are completely transforming how enterprise data moves, but running them shouldn't break your token budget.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, practice leads Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the massive infrastructure shifts coming out of Microsoft Build and Snowflake Summit. Discover how tools like Microsoft Fabric IQ, Project R
Agentic Reality Check: Multi-Cloud Data, Zero Trust Security, and the Death of ETL | Agents of Dev Episode 27
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AI is moving faster than ever, but enterprise leaders are discovering a tough reality: deploying autonomous agents is not just about choosing the right model.
It is about building the right control systems. In this episode of Agents of Dev, practice leads Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin reflect on a busy conference season covering Snowflake, Datab
Why Claude Opus 4.8 Changes Everything: Models as Platforms, AI Microgravity & Graphify | Agents of Dev Episode 26
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Is your AI development stack quietly trapping you in a state of "microgravity" vendor lock-in?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down why the latest wave of AI engines—headlined by Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8—are evolving into fully integrated operational systems rather than standalone models.
Brad revea
AI Agents Are Breaking the Stack: Fabric IQ, Snowflake Coco, & Gemma 4 | Agents of Dev Episode 25
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AI agents are completely transforming how enterprise data moves, but running them shouldn't break your token budget.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the massive infrastructure shifts coming out of Microsoft Build and Snowflake Summit. Discover how tools like Microsoft Fabric IQ, Project Rayfin, and Snow
The Truth About 10x AI Productivity plus Google Anti-Gravity 2.0 & MCP Washing | Agents of Dev Episode 24
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Google is rebuilding its ecosystem around Anti-Gravity 2.0 and enterprises shifting toward smaller, localized models like Gemma 4.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the reality behind the "10x AI productivity" hype and explore why the industry is shifting toward "token economics" cost management.
The duo
The Real Cost of AI Agents: Graph Databases, DORA J-Curve, and AI FinOps | Agents of Dev Episode 23
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As enterprises rush to deploy autonomous AI agents, many are waking up to tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected API bills, proving that the shift to agentic AI is as much an economic challenge as it is a technical one.
In this episode of the Agents of Dev podcast, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the massive architectural shifts hit
Is RAG Dead? Graph RAG, Rogue Agents, and the Evolution of the AI Development Stack | Agents of Dev Episode 22
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What happens when your AI agent decides to delete your production database because it was "pretty sure" it wasn't necessary?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin dive deep into the shifting landscape of enterprise AI, starting with why "naive RAG" is failing practitioners and how Graph RAG and context engines (like the
Is the Data Lakehouse Dead? Databricks, Iceberg, & Google's New AI Stack | Agents of Dev Episode 21
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The "open table format wars" are officially over, but a new era of vertically integrated AI stacks is just beginning.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin dive deep into the massive wave of announcements from Google Cloud Next, focusing on the shift from systems of intelligence to "systems of action."
Brad breaks down
Mainframe MCP, YOLO AI Workflows, and the Mythos Security Crisis | Agent of Dev Episode 20
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In a world where AI-driven security can find a million vulnerabilities in minutes, "business as usual" for developers is officially dead.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin of The Futurum Group dive into the rapid evolution of the software lifecycle. They explore how Model Context Protocol (MCP) is revitalizing the m
Oracle Mission Critical Scale, AI Benchmarking Pitfalls & Cost of Context | Agents of Dev Episode 19
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What if the biggest challenge in AI is not building it, but understanding how it changes underneath you?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore Oracle’s latest mission critical data infrastructure advancements alongside the fast evolving realities of AI systems, benchmarking, and cost management.
The discussion c
AI Agents, Data, and Security: What’s Changing Right Now | Agents of Dev Episode 18
AI is evolving fast, but the real story is how data, memory, and security are shaping what comes next.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosted by Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin, industry experts break down the latest trends from Microsoft’s growing data ecosystem to Anthropic’s approach to monitoring AI agents.
The conversation explores how graph databases like Neo4j are unlocking deeper context,
Microsoft’s Agentic Data Stack: Relational Ops, Meta-Prompting & Dataiku’s Reasoning Layer | Agents of Dev Episode 17
Data intelligence just found its reasoning layer.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin unpack Microsoft’s latest announcements and explain why relational operational data is quickly becoming the backbone of agentic systems.
As AI moves beyond simple generation into reasoning and decision-making, the conversation shifts from models alone to the data foundations that make
AI Boom Rewrites Dev Roles: Snowflake SnowWork & NVIDIA Open-Source Rise | Agents of Dev Episode 16
AI is rewriting every tech role, and the pace of change is accelerating faster than most organizations and professionals expected.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down how the AI boom and the rise of agentic software development are reshaping career paths, team structures, and the very definition of what it means to be a software developer in real time.
They u
The Recursive Revolution: How Agentic AI is Rewriting the Rules of Code | Agents of Dev Episode 15
Imagine a world where your software doesn’t just run—it thinks, adapts, and heals itself when a data pipeline breaks at 3:00 AM.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore the “Inception” of modern coding: the rise of self-referential, agentic software.
Moving beyond functions calling functions, they dive into systems that can act, correct, and even evolve on their own
Teradata’s AI Shift, PromptFu Rumors & the Rise of Verification Debt
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore how Teradata is evolving into an open data platform designed for AI, hybrid search and agentic workflows.
They also examine the growing importance of AI security, including what OpenAI’s potential PromptFu acquisition could signal for the future of securing AI-generated software.
The conversation breaks down the rise of verifi
AI Observability & IBM DB2 Genius Hub: The Future of IT Modernization
Is your IT ready for the AI-driven future?
In this episode of Agents of Dev, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore IBM’s DB2 Genius Hub and how it simplifies database operations, accelerates root cause analysis, and helps modernize enterprise IT environments.
They go beyond database tools to examine the broader transformation AI is driving across infrastructure, development, and analytics workflow
The End of Dumb Storage: AI, Legacy Debt, and the New Era of 3D Policy
The era of 'dumb storage' is officially dead, replaced by a world where AI doesn't just live on your servers—it becomes the operating system for your entire enterprise.
In this episode of Agents of Dev, hosts Brad Shimmin and Mitch Ashley dismantle the notion that data management is still just about "dumb storage." The conversation kicks off with a look at the major branding shifts sweeping the in
Agent Interfaces & IDEs: The Future of Code Management | Agents of Dev Ep. 11
AI agents are no longer experimental side projects — they’re reshaping how developers build, manage and ship software.
In Episode 11 of Agents of Dev, hosts Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin unpack the rapid rise of open-source AI agent frameworks, the acquisition ripple effects across the market, and what it means for IDEs, developer workflows and enterprise control planes.
The discussion covers:
Wh
Stop Fearing Change: Modernizing Mission-Critical Apps | Agents of Dev Ep. 10
Enterprise IT doesn’t fail because of technology. It fails because of hesitation.
In Episode 10 of Agents of Dev, hosts Brad Shimmin and Mitch Ashley examine why fear of change is often the biggest barrier to modernization — especially when it comes to mission-critical applications. They explore:
• Why legacy systems still power global enterprises
• The real risk of standing still
• How AI and Dev
Modern Mainframe: AI, DevOps & Enterprise Transformation | Agents Of Dev Ep. 9
Mainframes still power the world’s largest enterprises — and modernization is now mission-critical.
Hosted by Brad Shimmin and Mitch Ashley, this episode features leaders from BMC: Mark Schettenhelm, Principal Product Manager Anthony Anter, DevOps Architect & Evangelist Eric Fuld, and Modern Mainframe Product Leadership.
Together, they discuss how enterprises are evolving mainframe envir
AI Bots, Security Gaps, and the Cost of Automation
As AI-powered automation accelerates, new tools promise to simplify software development—but they also introduce new risks.
In this episode, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin examine emerging AI tools like Claude Bot and Molt Bot, breaking down what they do, how developers are using them, and why security concerns are quickly becoming impossible to ignore.
The discussion dives into:
The real-world
AI Coworkers Are Here: Claude Cowork Makes Agents Easy for Everyone | Agents Of Dev Ep. 7
Claude Cowork, developed by Anthropic, represents a major shift in how people interact with artificial intelligence at work. Instead of complex command-line tools or heavy technical setup, Claude Cowork allows users to create AI-powered agents that manage tasks, files, and workflows—without writing code.
In this episode, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down what Claude Cowork is, why it matte
Developer Frustration, APIs, and the AI Tooling Shift | Agents Of Dev Ep. 6
The developer ecosystem is experiencing growing tension as APIs change rapidly, tooling ecosystems fragment, and AI becomes deeply embedded in software engineering workflows.
In this episode, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore the root causes behind developer frustration, from unstable APIs to the rapid rise of AI-powered development tools. They examine the recent influence of Anthropic on the
AI Is Rewriting How Software Gets Built | Agents Of Dev Ep. 5
Software development is changing fast as AI becomes embedded directly into how code is written, planned, and shipped.
Java and Python continue to dominate, but tooling, workflows, and expectations for engineers are evolving just as quickly. In this conversation, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down what’s actually changing beneath the hype.
From AI-powered developer tools and spec-driven dev
How AI Agents Are Replacing Traditional Coding | Agents Of Dev Ep. 4
AI is changing how software gets built, and it’s not subtle. Coding agents, long-term memory, and context-aware workflows are reshaping what developers actually do day to day.
Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down how AI is altering planning, specifications, and project structure, why traditional APIs are struggling, and what happens when agents start managing more of the work. They also dig in
The Evolving Role of Developers in Tech: AI, Infrastructure & What’s Next | Agents Of Dev Ep. 3
Developers are facing a major shift in how they build, deploy, and interact with technology. In this episode, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin explore how infrastructure and tooling are becoming central to the developer role, and how AI is reshaping development workflows.
They discuss ongoing challenges with APIs, the need for more structured and predictable interactions, and what these shifts mean f
Wait, why all the AI IDEs | Agents of Dev Ep. 2
AI development environments are evolving fast, reshaping how engineers build software.
In this episode, Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin break down the competition between vendors, the importance of user familiarity, and the real challenges of managing projects in AI-driven workflows.
They explore why documentation matters more than ever, how the cyclical nature of dev tools impacts teams, and why ma
The Future of Software Development: Agentic AI, Dev Trends & AWS Insights | Agents of Dev Ep. 1
Agents of Dev Episode 1 dives into the future of software development with Mitch Ashley and Brad Shimmin. They break down how AI, agentic workflows, and modern analytics are reshaping the dev ecosystem.
From AWS re:Invent insights to evolving engineering practices, this episode explores innovation, trust in tech, and what’s coming next for developers, teams, and the broader industry.
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