From 00d67843aacc322ca26e0dd71da6c320fefa1b3e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Markus Obelitz Date: Thu, 28 May 2026 15:41:53 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Add AI usage expectations across all seniority levels Each role from Associate to Principal now includes criteria for how engineers are expected to work with AI assistants, covering code review habits, prompting quality, agentic workflows, team enablement, and company-wide adoption at senior levels. --- ...software_engineer_progression_framework.md | 56 +++++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/career/software_engineer_progression_framework.md b/career/software_engineer_progression_framework.md index b8780658..57e7bf91 100644 --- a/career/software_engineer_progression_framework.md +++ b/career/software_engineer_progression_framework.md @@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ _Developers usually spend 1 year in this role._ - You write code that passes CI. +- You use AI assistants to learn faster and produce more than you could alone. + +- You review every line before committing it. + +- You use AI beyond code - drafting PR descriptions, summarising tickets, and generating documentation. + ### Good colleague - You care about your work. @@ -60,6 +66,8 @@ _Developers usually spend 1 year in this role._ - You grow through pair programming with team members of various seniority. +- You ask for help when you don't understand AI-generated output, rather than committing what you can't explain. + ### Recognized as - Someone who consistently completes work on a task-level. @@ -95,7 +103,11 @@ _Developers usually spend 2 years in this role._ - You deliver features by merging small incremental changes. -- You write tests for your code. +- You write tests for your code. + +- You lean on AI assistants to move faster on day-to-day work, giving them the context they need to produce useful output and rejecting results that don't meet our standards. + +- You keep AI-generated code lean, reviewing and trimming it to fit only what's needed. ### Good colleague - You deliver work that is relevant within the current milestone of a project. @@ -108,7 +120,9 @@ _Developers usually spend 2 years in this role._ - You identify unclear requirements. -- You communicate promptly when issues arise. +- You communicate promptly when issues arise. + +- You spot repetitive tasks in the project and flag them as candidates for automation. ### Recognized as - Someone who consistently closes tasks in their area of expertise collaborating with less experienced developers. @@ -143,6 +157,12 @@ _Developers usually spend 3 years in this role._ - You work test-driven. +- You actively integrate AI assistants into your workflow - for exploration, refactors, and tests - and recognize the cases where they slow you down. + +- You create features that are thought out. You maximize AI's output by planning before working. + +- You experiment with agentic workflows - letting AI take multi-step actions. + ### Good colleague - You are able to prioritize tasks. @@ -152,7 +172,13 @@ _Developers usually spend 3 years in this role._ - You actively give feedback. -- You enforce a culture of knowledge sharing, eg. through pair programming. +- You enforce a culture of knowledge sharing, eg. through pair programming. + +- You help less experienced developers use AI assistants effectively without losing ownership of their code. + +- You are mindful of privacy and security when using AI with client code and data. + +- You share what you learn with the team. ### Recognized as - Someone who shows ownership of the project and is comfortable across the stack. @@ -188,6 +214,14 @@ _Developers usually spend 4 years in this role._ - You leave codebases better than how you found them. +- You model effective AI-assisted workflows that lift the team's output, while holding that code to the same bar in review - catching overengineering, hallucinated APIs, and weak tests regardless of how it was produced. + +- You draw on your agentic AI experience to continuously raise the project's level of automation. + +- You build project-level automations using AI - pipelines, scripts, and workflows that reduce manual work for the team. + +- You evaluate emerging AI tooling and propose additions to the team's stack when they deliver clear value. + ### Good colleague - You share ownership of the entire project, including areas outside of the codebase. @@ -238,7 +272,9 @@ _Developers usually spend 4 years in this role._ - You transform clients’ needs to a foundation for your team members to continue working on through conversations with the client. -- You take part in discussions about development strategy. +- You take part in discussions about development strategy. + +- You drive AI adoption across Abtion as a whole - shaping tooling choices and pushing automation into every part of how we work, from estimation and client communication to maintenance and delivery. ### Good code - You architect systems that can handle many potential futures. @@ -262,6 +298,12 @@ _Developers usually spend 4 years in this role._ - You ensure collective product ownership so the team is not dependent on any team member. +- You identify opportunities where AI can add value for the client - in their codebase, workflows, or business - and turn them into concrete proposals. + +- You automate parts of the client's own workflow as part of your delivery, leaving them with capabilities and knowledge they can own and build on. + +- You measure AI adoption and delivery impact across projects. + ### Recognized as - A helpful consultant that consistently delivers high-value solutions for real problems. @@ -306,6 +348,10 @@ _Developers usually spend 4 years in this role._ - You bring new working-methods that improve the company’s overall performance. +- You shape Abtion's AI usage by balancing emerging best practices with our real-world context: team preferences, client profiles, business strategy, and budgets. + +- You set company-wide goals for AI impact - covering productivity, quality, and automation coverage. + ### Good colleague - You collaborate with sales about high-level estimates and prioritization. @@ -317,6 +363,8 @@ _Developers usually spend 4 years in this role._ - You mentor other engineers to reach your level (and surpass it). +- You contribute to external discussions on AI-augmented delivery, shaping how Abtion is perceived in the industry. + ### Recognized as - Someone who plays a key role in the technical direction of the company and has introduced positive changes across multiple teams.