Agentic coding
What is Agentic coding?
A way of working where an AI agent takes a goal, plans the steps, edits files, runs commands and iterates until tests pass, with the developer directing and approving rather than typing each line. It moves past autocomplete to autonomous task execution. The shift is from writing code to reviewing proposed changes.
Why it matters
Handing over the keystrokes changes the shape of the work more than its speed. When an agent plans, edits and runs on its own, the developer’s day fills with a different task: reading proposed changes and deciding whether to trust them. That reads as easier and often is not, because judging a diff you did not write, across files you were not watching, takes real attention. The method rewards tasks with a clear finish line, a failing test to turn green or a well-bounded feature, where the agent can check its own work. Point it at something open-ended with no acceptance criteria and it will produce something plausible and confident that misses the point.
In practice
Give an agent a bug with a failing test and a clear definition of done, and it can loop on its own until the test passes and the fix holds. Give it “clean up the payments module” with no test and no boundary, and it churns out a large, reasonable-looking diff that changes behaviour nobody signed off on. Same agent. The scoping made the difference.
