Rethinking Software Engineering for Agentic AI Systems

TL;DR

This paper argues that software engineering must shift focus towards orchestration, verification, and human-AI collaboration due to the rise of agentic AI systems and abundant AI-generated code.

Contribution

It presents a conceptual framework for reorienting software engineering education, tools, and processes around new competencies needed for agentic AI systems.

Findings

Code is becoming an abundant, disposable commodity.

Engineers' roles shift towards system-level design and oversight.

Verification is identified as a critical quality bottleneck.

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of large language models (LLMs) and agentic AI systems has created an unprecedented abundance of automatically generated code, challenging the traditional software engineering paradigm centered on manual authorship. This paper examines whether the discipline should be reoriented around orchestration, verification, and human-AI collaboration, and what implications this shift holds for education, tools, processes, and professional practice. Drawing on a structured synthesis of relevant literature and emerging industry perspectives, we analyze four key dimensions: the evolving role of the engineer in agentic workflows, verification as a critical quality bottleneck, observed impacts on productivity and maintainability, and broader implications for the discipline. Our analysis indicates that code is transitioning from a scarce, carefully crafted artifact to an abundant and increasingly disposable commodity. As a result, software engineering must reorganize around three core competencies: effective orchestration of multi-agent systems, rigorous verification of AI-generated outputs, and structured human-AI collaboration. We propose a conceptual framework outlining the transformations required across curricula, development tooling, lifecycle processes, and governance models. Rather than diminishing the role of engineers, this shift elevates their responsibilities toward system-level design, semantic validation, and accountable oversight. The paper concludes by highlighting key research challenges, including verification-first lifecycles, prompt traceability, and the long-term evolution of the engineering workforce.