GenAI PMagentic engineering
A workflow for using AI agents to plan, build, test, and update software with minimal manual intervention. The newsletter treats it as a practical product-development paradigm.
Key Highlights
- Agentic engineering centers on building software with agents that can plan, write, and execute code autonomously.
- For AI PMs, the concept is as much about governance and review workflows as it is about development speed.
- Newsletter coverage emphasized anti-patterns, especially the danger of letting agents push unreviewed code.
- Simon Willison played a central role in defining and popularizing the term in this context.
- The topic gained visibility through both practical writing and discussion at the Pragmatic Summit.
Agentic engineering
Overview
Agentic engineering is the practice of building software systems with the help of agents that can plan, write, and execute code with a meaningful degree of autonomy. In the newsletter, the term is used primarily in the context of coding agents and the operational patterns that emerge when software development shifts from purely human-driven workflows to human-and-agent collaboration.For AI Product Managers, agentic engineering matters because it changes both how products are built and how agent-powered products should be governed. It introduces new leverage in development speed and experimentation, but it also creates new failure modes around review, execution safety, autonomy boundaries, and behavior management. As a result, PMs need to think not only about capability, but also about controls, anti-patterns, and the design of systems that keep agents useful without making them reckless.
Key Developments
- 2026-03-05 — Simon Willison highlighted anti-patterns in agentic engineering, especially the risk of agents producing or pushing unreviewed code to collaborators.
- 2026-03-15 — Simon Willison discussed agentic engineering in a fireside chat at the Pragmatic Summit in San Francisco, hosted by Eric Lui from Statsig, signaling growing industry interest in the topic.
- 2026-03-16 — Simon Willison published a definition-oriented piece explaining agentic engineering as software development assisted by coding agents that can both write and execute code.
Relevance to AI PMs
- Define autonomy boundaries clearly. PMs need to decide which tasks an agent can propose, execute, or ship autonomously versus which require human approval. This is foundational to reducing risk while preserving speed.
- Design review and safety workflows. Agentic engineering makes code generation only part of the story; execution rights, testing requirements, and human review gates become product decisions as much as engineering decisions.
- Manage agent behavior as a product surface. Anti-patterns such as over-delegation or allowing unreviewed outputs to affect shared systems show that agent behavior management should be treated like UX and policy design, with explicit expectations, fallback paths, and monitoring.
Related
- Simon Willison — A key voice in defining and discussing agentic engineering, especially through practical writing on coding agents and anti-patterns.
- Coding agents — The most direct enabling technology behind agentic engineering; these agents can write and often execute code.
- Pragmatic Summit — A venue where agentic engineering was discussed publicly, indicating broader practitioner interest.
- Statsig — Connected through Eric Lui's hosting of the Pragmatic Summit fireside chat on agentic engineering.
- Anti-patterns — Closely linked because much of the practical conversation around agentic engineering focuses on what not to let agents do without oversight.
Newsletter Mentions (4)
“Matt Van Horn uses Compound Engineering’s slash C plan/C work loop to autonomously generate step-by-step AI agent plans that reverse-engineer secret web APIs via HAR sniffing and build SQLite-backed CLIs and agent skills like Printing Press—all without manually reading code.”
#5 ▶️ How This Non-Technical Founder Mastered Agentic Engineering in 50 Minutes | Matt Van Horn Peter Yang Matt Van Horn uses Compound Engineering’s slash C plan/C work loop to autonomously generate step-by-step AI agent plans that reverse-engineer secret web APIs via HAR sniffing and build SQLite-backed CLIs and agent skills like Printing Press—all without manually reading code. Compound Engineering’s `/c plan ` command writes a detailed execution plan to prevent agent laziness and `/c work` executes the plan; Matt used this loop to build and update his Agent Cookie tool in minutes without viewing the plan file. Printing Press ingests official CLIs/APIs, HAR-sniffs secret web APIs (e.g., Kayak Direct, Google Flights), incorporates GitHub community wrappers (e.g., Python Domino’s pizza API), and creates an SQLite database with power-user personas to generate a CLI plus Hermes, OpenClaw, Claude Code, and Codex agent skills—e.g., `pp flight goat` returns cheapest long-haul flights like London at $1,200 per passenger.
“What is agentic engineering? - Defines 'agentic engineering' as the practice of developing software with the assistance of coding agents—systems that can both write and execute code—and gives examples and context.”
#5 📝 Simon Willison What is agentic engineering? - Defines 'agentic engineering' as the practice of developing software with the assistance of coding agents—systems that can both write and execute code—and gives examples and context. The piece situates the term within LLM-driven tooling and points to further reading.
“#11 📝 Simon Willison My fireside chat about agentic engineering at the Pragmatic Summit - Simon participated in a fireside chat at the Pragmatic Summit in San Francisco discussing Agentic Engineering, hosted by Eric Lui from Statsig.”
Today's top 12 insights for PM Builders, ranked by relevance from X, LinkedIn, and Blogs. Ramp Ships 500+ Features Using Claude Code #11 📝 Simon Willison My fireside chat about agentic engineering at the Pragmatic Summit - Simon participated in a fireside chat at the Pragmatic Summit in San Francisco discussing Agentic Engineering, hosted by Eric Lui from Statsig.
“Simon Willison Anti-patterns: things to avoid - A guide section describing behaviors that are anti-patterns in agentic engineering, with emphasis on avoiding unreviewed code being pushed to collaborators.”
#11 📝 Simon Willison Anti-patterns: things to avoid - A guide section describing behaviors that are anti-patterns in agentic engineering, with emphasis on avoiding unreviewed code being pushed to collaborators.
Related
Anthropic’s coding product/blog referenced in a customer story about Cognition’s use of Claude Fable 5. For AI PMs, it highlights enterprise coding adoption narratives.
A developer and AI commentator quoted here in relation to OpenAI’s clarification of ChatGPT Work behavior. He is relevant as an interpreter and critic of product messaging.
A ChatGPT-related coding/product mode discussed as a voice-and-tone setting rather than a separate product. For PMs, it highlights how users mentally bucket product experiences.
Agents that perform coding tasks and can increasingly orchestrate adjacent workflows like design. The newsletter uses them as the execution layer for Design.md scripts.
A plugin/pattern used to manage build loops and goal-driven agent workflows. Here it is tied to Codex Desktop and the LFG loop for prototype completion.
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