Agents are becoming the new developer platform, using semantic search with data from tools like Git, Slack, and Jira for context. Things to consider are setting guardrails to block or allow things, and using logs, metrics, and traces to understand agent behavior.

Work isn’t the only place where you can develop valuable leadership skills, Sophie Weston mentioned in the video The Principal Engineer’s Path from her QCon London talk. She suggested thinking about the things you do outside of your job where you can learn and practice useful leadership skills, and bringing your full skill set - your whole self - to work.

As organizations scale, communication overload, loss of shared context, and trust gaps emerge, Charlotte de Jong Schouwenburg mentioned. Trust must be built team by team; it can’t be replicated. Trust is interpersonal, while psychological safety exists among people and fuels learning. Leaders must deliberately design structures, rituals, and metrics that reward transparency and cohesion at scale.