The Tech Trek · Ep. 703

AI Agentic Engineering Workflows, Scrum, and Technical Hiring

Shaun Patterson · CTO · Titan

01 — The conversation
GuestShaun PattersonCTOTitanProfile →

AI agents can write code, research technical approaches, reproduce bugs, and automate repeated engineering work. But faster implementation does not remove the need to understand the system. Shaun Patterson, CTO at Titan, explains how agentic coding is changing the way his team builds software. The discussion covers reusable debugging skills, AI driven planning, technical migrations, code quality, and the limits of letting an agent keep working without human intervention. The conversation also explores what faster development means for project management. If agents can work across larger parts of a project, teams may spend less time managing individual stories and more time operating at the epic level. Shaun also explains how Titan evaluates engineering candidates in an environment where using AI is expected rather than prohibited.

Key ideas
01AI can reduce implementation time without replacing engineering judgment.
02Debugging sessions can become reusable skills for other developers.
03Faster development reduces the cost of testing different technical approaches.
04Agentic coding may shift project management from stories toward epics.
05Technical interviews increasingly need to evaluate how candidates use AI.

AI coding agents are changing more than development speed. Shaun Patterson explains how agents affect debugging, project planning, technical decisions, Scrum, and hiring as engineers move from individual implementation tasks toward larger pieces of the system.