{
  "id": 18746987,
  "title": "In the software factory, engineers become process engineers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/07/in-the-software-factory-engineers-become-process-engineers",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-07T16:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The New Stack",
    "slug": "the-new-stack",
    "url": "https://thenewstack.io/engineers-become-process-engineers/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the rapidly evolving world of software development, the traditional notion of engineers as mere code-writers has given way to a new role: process engineers. This shift is driven by the growing influence of software agents, which automate various stages of the development process, from code generation to testing and deployment.\n\nCompanies like CircleCI report a remarkable trend - more than 40% of pull requests on GitHub now begin with an agent's first draft, a figure that jumped from 17% in March to its current level by September. While agents have made code generation faster and cheaper, the process of shipping that code has lagged behind, with average daily workflow runs increasing by 59% year-over-year.\n\nThis change in the software development landscape has profound implications. Engineers no longer focus solely on writing code; they are now responsible for designing the entire software factory that generates, tests, and deploys that code. This transition is akin to the transformation witnessed in other manufacturing industries, where people move from operating machines to designing the systems that run those machines.\n\nThree key lessons from manufacturing carry over to the world of software agents. First, people design the system, not the output. Just as Ford's Model T production line was redesigned to increase efficiency, software engineers must now create the optimal system for agents to work within. Second, quality must be built into every step of the process, much like Sakichi Toyoda's loom that automatically stopped when a thread broke, allowing a single operator to manage multiple machines. Third, the slowest step in a system sets the pace, a principle popularized by Eliyahu Goldratt's \"The Goal.\"\n\nIn a software factory, agents specialize in specific tasks, such as turning usage data into briefs or writing requirements with acceptance criteria. Handoffs between agents are critical, requiring explicit contracts that define what is passed, in what format, and with what proof. This shift from human-to-human handoffs to agent-to-agent handoffs changes the nature of collaboration and introduces new potential for error compounding.\n\nAs software engineers transition from writing code to designing the systems that run those agents, they must take on four key responsibilities. First, they must design the flow of the system, determining which agents exist, what each one owns, and how work is parallelized. Second, they must define what constitutes \"good\" work, with specifications, acceptance criteria, performance budgets, and API contracts now needing to be explicit and checkable by machines. Third, they must continuously improve the system, treating every escaped defect as a process bug rather than a machine failure. Finally, they must place human gates in the system, where mistakes are most costly and judgment is most necessary.\n\nIn this new era of software development, quality is no longer an afterthought but a fundamental aspect of every change. Instead of waiting for a single end-of-line inspection, software engineers must implement checks throughout the entire process, much like the automatic thread break detection in Toyoda's loom. This approach ensures that quality is built in from the ground up, rather than being inspected at the end of the line.",
  "summary": "For most of software’s history, the scarce resource was people who could write code. Every process the industry built assumed The post In the software factory, engineers become process engineers appeared first on The New Stack .",
  "key_points": [
    "Engineers now act as process engineers in software development",
    "40% of GitHub pull requests start with agent drafts",
    "Software engineers design entire software factory"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}