Today, the team who makes Zed announced a new speaker series about agentic engineering. In reading their motivation for it, I really appreciate the thoughtful way in which they’re approaching working with AI:

Software development is changing and we find ourselves at a convergence. Between the extremes of technological zealotry (“all code will be AI-generated”) and dismissive skepticism (“AI-generated code is garbage”) lies a more practical and nuanced approach—one that is ours to discover together.

As I’m trying to figure out how to navigate the changing world of work, so much of the content out there tends towards the maximalist end of the spectrum. People are playing on this weird cocktail of excitement, worry, and uncertainty to promote themselves. In the background is the combination of widespread tech layoffs and unemployment with the gold rush mentality of VCs, entrepreneurs, and companies trying to ride the AI wave.

What I appreciate about how the Zed team talks about AI (see this great Changelog interview with Nathan Sobo), is that they have the courage to walk a middle path between the hype and skepticism. Work is changing, for sure. But you don’t have to buy in to the predominant narratives on social media and surrender to FOMO in charting a path through it all.