Papers for
software development managers
Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.
Embedded software firms prepare for AI agents to reshape teams and tasks
Developing a Roadmap to an AI-first Organization: A Case Study in Embedded Software Development
Abstract: The emergence of AI agents is expected to reshape software engineering by moving beyond AI as assistants towards systems capable of planning, executing, and evaluating development tasks with increasing autonomy. This transition is particularly significant for embedded software organizations, where strict requirements for quality, traceability, verification, and long-term maintainability often apply. This paper presents a case study of a large embedded systems company and its transition toward becoming an AI-first organization. Through a mixed method, we analyzed data collected from a semi-structured workshop with 40 participants, including scrum masters, architects, management, and product owners. The findings show that the participants expect agentic AI to affect team structure, required competencies, organizational strategies, and developers' roles within the organization. Based on these findings, the paper discusses implications for federated AI team formation, human-in-the-loop practices in such an organization, and the sustainable adoption of AI agents in embedded software engineering. We also present a concrete roadmap for the organization towards becoming an AI-first organization.
Software development adapts itself as projects and conditions change
Rethinking Software Development as a Self-Adaptive Socio-Technical System
Abstract: Agentic AI is expanding across various software engineering activities, yet human-agent organization is typically treated as fixed, which is problematic because development configurations may become suboptimal as development context evolves. We propose viewing software development as a self-adaptive socio-technical system in which both the software project and the development configuration (participants, responsibilities, authority, information, and verification) adapt as goals, evidence, uncertainty, and risk evolve. This yields two coupled forms of adaptation: evolving the software and reconfiguring how subsequent engineering is performed. We illustrate the idea with a proof of concept, outlining challenges and future plans.
Framework assesses software business risks and strengths with ai
AI Exposure and AI Resilience: A Two-Dimensional Assessment Framework for Software and Software-Based Business Model
Abstract: Artificial intelligence is changing both software production and the economics of software-based business models. Classical technology due diligence mainly examines technical properties such as architecture, scalability, and technical debt. These criteria do not fully capture how AI can affect a company's value proposition, competitive position, margins, or access to customers. This paper develops Artificial Intelligence Exposure and Resilience (AI-ER) as a two-dimensional assessment framework. AI exposure describes the pressure for change that AI creates for a business model. AI resilience describes the company's ability to absorb that pressure, adapt to changed conditions, and use AI in an economically viable way. Metrics for both dimensions are derived from current AI capabilities, their deployment conditions, and relevant research on business models and organizational adaptability. The model keeps exposure and resilience separate and adds an explicit assessment of evidence quality and confidence. It can be applied first with public information and later refined with internal evidence. The result is a traceable company profile that supports comparison without concealing uncertainty in the underlying evidence. The paper also specifies an initial score logic and a procedure for empirical validation.