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Copilot governance | 8 Simple Steps for Engineering Managers
LLMs and AI software developer tools are here to stay, whether software engineering managers love or hate them.
I am using Copilot as a noun and a verb, because GitHub made it ubiquitous, but any “AI” driven software developer productivity tool fits into my discussion.
There are 5 problems to manage as your software engineering teams embark on fully embracing tools such as Copilot. A great explanation and introduction by MIT Sloan Management Review. I am going to improvise on this analogy specific to the Copilot governance model I propose here.
As a Software engineering manager, your job is a bit more than delivering large volumes of working code.
Managers are responsible for:
Manageability — Easy to change, tested, and with appropriate cohesion and coupling.
Fit-for-purpose design — Code fits into the system design.
Scaffolding fit — Delivering the solution into the overall ecosystem of the product and scaffolding of the repository — folders, organization, modules.
How to capture the idea of a problem
- Does the solution delivered by Copilot fit into the overall ecosystem of the codebase?
