How AI Agents Are Changing Software Development
From code review to deployment, AI agents are automating entire development workflows. Here's what's working, what's hype, and what's next.
AI agents have moved from research demos to production tools. Companies are using them to automate code reviews, write tests, manage deployments, and even respond to production incidents.
What's Actually Working
Code review agents like CodeRabbit and Cursor's background agent are saving teams 5-10 hours per week. Test generation agents are achieving 80%+ coverage on new codebases.
The Architecture
Modern AI agents use a loop of observe-think-act with tool calling. They can read files, run commands, make API calls, and iterate on their own output.
Limitations
Agents still struggle with ambiguous requirements, complex state management, and tasks requiring deep domain knowledge. Human oversight remains essential.
What's Next
Expect to see more specialized agents for specific domains -- security, performance optimization, accessibility, and database management.