Exploring with agents (Interview)

In this deep dive episode of The Changelog, host Adam Stachowiak sits down with Amelia Wattenberger, designer and former GitHub Next researcher, to explore the transformative impact of AI agents on software development. Amelia reflects on her journey from data visualization to leading agent-first design at Augment Code, where she's building 'Intent'—a new developer tool that treats the 'workspace' as the core primitive, not chat threads. She argues that while AI has made prototyping faster and easier, the final 30% of software development—polish, refinement, and finishing—has become significantly harder, creating a new kind of creative tension. The conversation explores the identity crisis developers face as agents take over coding tasks, the shift from CLI to UI, and the need for new collaboration primitives like multi-agent workspaces with shared context. Amelia shares her personal philosophy of using AI as a tool for exploration and design, not automation, emphasizing the importance of intention, taste, and the human element in building software. She also discusses the future of developer tooling, the role of orchestration, and how tools like Intent aim to provide both macro and micro views of codebases—like a map that zooms seamlessly from global to granular levels. The episode also features sponsor segments for RWX (CI/CD platform), WorkOS (identity and auth for agents), and NordLayer (zero-trust security), highlighting how these tools are evolving to meet the demands of an agent-driven world. Adam and Amelia conclude with a shared vision: developers are becoming code explorers, and the future of software lies in tools that support both rapid prototyping and thoughtful, intentional design. Amelia's insights into the 'intent' behind development—both in code and in process—offer a compelling framework for navigating the AI era with creativity, control, and purpose.