Beyond AI tools: Evolving software engineering organizations for the agentic era

Jennifer St Pierre is Senior Vice President of Developer Experience and Transformation at Dell Technologies, where she leads the strategy for how Dell’s Infrastructure Solutions Group builds, operates, and evolves software.In this session from DX Annual, Jen argues that the biggest challenge in adopting agentic AI is not the technology itself, but the people transition behind it. Drawing on lessons from earlier shifts like Agile, DevOps, and cloud adoption, she explains why organizations that treat AI as a simple tooling rollout may get compliance, but not commitment.Jen outlines five leadership imperatives for navigating the transition: building a shared understanding of why change is happening, defining a clear future state, clarifying how roles will evolve, creating psychological safety for experimentation, and aligning metrics and organizational structures with new ways of working. Throughout the talk, she emphasizes that while AI may generate code, humans remain responsible for direction, judgment, and meaning.Where to find Jennifer St Pierre: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-st-pierre-4935a81In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Intro(00:13) Why every major technology shift is ultimately a people transition(05:00) AI-generated code and the evolving role of software engineers(07:43) The importance of developing a shared understanding(12:00) Defining a clear future state and how engineering roles will evolve(19:12) How psychological safety enables experimentation and honest feedback(22:41) Why metrics and organizational structure must evolve for the age of AI(25:40) Why leaders must drive AI transformation intentionallyReferenced:• Measuring developer productivity with the DX Core 4• Understand team effectiveness