AI-driven Software Development: A Pragmatic Path to Agentic Development Processes
For software engineering practitioners and organizations, this provides a structured path to integrate AI across the development lifecycle, addressing governance and quality assurance challenges.
This paper proposes a pragmatic framework for transitioning from informal AI-assisted development to controlled agentic development processes, validated through a case study at a mid-sized software company. It identifies key mechanisms like a harness for project context, tool access, verification, and human approval.
Generative AI is transforming software development from localized tool support into development work that is embedded in processes, tools, and organizational structures. Its use now extends beyond code completion to requirements, architecture, implementation, testing, review, operations, and maintenance. Existing research shows a differentiated picture. Productivity gains are possible, but depend on task type, codebase characteristics, and developers' experience. At the same time, AI-generated artifacts require additional control and governance. Building on these observations, this paper develops a pragmatic organizing framework for the transition toward AI-driven Software Development. It describes a progression from informal and assistive AI use through integrated AI workflows toward controlled agentic development processes. The focus is not on individual tools or models, but on the technical, organizational, and quality-assurance mechanisms needed to embed AI across central software engineering activities. Particular importance is assigned to a harness that connects project context, tool access, verification, permissions, logging, and human approval. The paper draws on current research, practice-oriented sources, established software engineering practices, and project experience. A mid-sized software company is used as an exploratory case study to assess the plausibility of the framework and to illustrate how prerequisites, governance requirements, design practices, and transformation paths can be shaped in a concrete organizational context. The paper provides a conceptual basis for further scholarly discussion and empirical investigation of AI-driven Software Development.