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Kent Beck

What Kent Beck thinks about coding agents

@kent-beck · 38 positions · On ppll ↗

Creator of extreme programming and test-driven development, an original signatory of the Agile Manifesto, and the author of Test-Driven Development: By Example and Tidy First?

Kent Beck did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Kent Beck on coding agents. See everyone on coding agents

5 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Kent Beck has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingHaving an AI agent write tests costs tokens in the short run and saves them in the long run, because the classic failure is that the code does not work.

    Their wordsIt costs tokens in the short run, but it can save them in the long run because one of the classic genie mistakes is stuff doesn't work.

    ↗How Kent Beck shapes the software engineering industryyoutube.com 11th of 28 in this recording

  3. Our readingIt is far too soon for a manifesto about AI development: the Agile Manifesto took fifteen years of object-oriented practice before anyone could write it.

    Their wordswhich is why when I see manifestos today I'm just like too soon. Not a bad idea. Would love to have one just too soon. It took 15 years for the technical change of object-oriented programming to come before we could say here are the consequences of it. Here's how in a simple way we can express how to effectively use this technology that we've been using day in and day out for 15 years. The genie comes along. People are like, "Well, what's the new manifesto? It's just not manifesto time yet.

    ↗How Kent Beck shapes the software engineering industryyoutube.com 27th of 28 in this recording

  5. Our readingWhen an AI agent runs out of forward progress, throw the project away and start over rather than trying to tweak it.

    Their wordsthe genie runs out of g runs itself out of options it can't make further forward progress and so I'll wipe it away start over I won't try and tweak I'll start over and say all right well if I implement things in a different order. If I implement with this markdown file or if I implement it with this commit hook, we collectively need to try absolutely everything.

    ↗How Kent Beck shapes the software engineering industryyoutube.com 28th of 28 in this recording

  6. 3 months earlier

  7. Our readingThe job of senior people now is to demonstrate not how to use these tools effectively, but how to figure out how to use them, which is a different set of skills.

    Their wordsSo, as seniors, I figure it behooves us to demonstrate not just how to use these tools effectively, but how to figure out how to use these tools effectively, cuz that's a whole different set of skills.

    ↗Martin Fowler & Kent Beck: Frameworks for reinventing software, again and againyoutube.com 2nd of 20 in this recording

  9. Our readingAgents are driving a re-soloing of programming, undoing the safe social environment that extreme programming built for people who are not naturally social.

    Their wordsSo, I see a a big trend is the re-soloing of programming. Where a big part of extreme programming is creating a safe social environment for basically antisocial people. Not just asocial, antisocial. And the when I think about the degree of interaction on an XP team, people aren't talking to each other hours a day and happy to be doing so because it's set up for that to be a positive experience.

    ↗Martin Fowler & Kent Beck: Frameworks for reinventing software, again and againyoutube.com 15th of 20 in this recording