Why I Joined My Company’s AI Team

If you’ve read my previous posts On No / Low Code and AI for Automation, Testing, and Quality Engineering and I Vibe Coded an App and Learnt Exactly What I Thought I Would, you may be surprised to learn that I’ve recently joined a newly formed AI team at my company.  As I wrote in those pieces, I’m certainly not against AI, but I’m also not running towards it the way some others are.  So why join an AI team?

Let’s first start with what this AI team will be doing.  Or what we won’t.  We won’t be building software products intended for market release.  Our primary focus will not be to develop software, assisted by AI.  But that doesn’t mean AI-assisted work isn’t happening within the company, or that it won’t increase.  Some things I’ve noticed thus far in this AI boom is that AI usage is somewhat fragmented, and still very much based on individual experiments and experiences.  Individuals are trying things out for themselves, learning about AI when they find the time, trying to work out what’s “best”, usually from scratch.  What I’ve been hearing is that people need more guidance, more structure, and fewer hurdles.  That’s what our new AI team aims to provide.  Additionally, we want to actively enable other teams to build products faster and respond more flexibly to market demands.  In that sense, AI becomes a lever for better delivery, shorter feedback loops, and more pragmatic product development.

AI in the workplace, and especially in software development, isn’t just an inevitability – it’s already here.  As a curious sceptic and cautious explorer of AI, I want to help shape how it’s adopted and used; I want to facilitate thoughtful decisions about risk and help make sure that quality is still a priority.  That we don’t get swept away in a wave of enthusiasm and forget to stop and ask important questions about what we want to achieve, and what risks we’re willing to accept to do it.  I want to help create practical solutions to real problems which come with AI.  I want to learn more about the tools, possibilities, challenges.  I want to help people use AI responsibly and mindfully.  That’s why I joined my company’s AI team.

What challenges and opportunities do you see for a team like this?  Is your company doing something similar?  Share your thoughts in the comments.