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ShipTalk - SRE, DevOps, Platform Engineering, Software Delivery
ShipTalk - SRE, DevOps, Platform Engineering, Software Delivery

CTO Predictions for 2026: How AI Will Change Software Development (with Harness Field CTO Nick Durkin)

23 December 2025 40:37 By Harness

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About this episode

In this special predictions episode of ShipTalk, host Dewan Ahmed (Principal Developer Advocate, Harness) sits down with Nick Durkin, Field CTO at Harness, to unpack what’s actually coming in 2026—beyond the hype.

They explore whether we’re heading toward the first AI-caused production meltdown, how much trust we should place in AI "confidence," and why many teams may face a wave of AI-driven tech debt before they find balance. Nick shares why the future isn’t about more tools or more gates, but about policy in the pipeline, guardrails instead of roadblocks, and teams finally operating with a shared rulebook.

The conversation also dives into:

  • Why DevSecOps may finally go mainstream in 2026
  • How MLOps, agents, and prompts become first-class delivery artifacts
  • The real risks behind prompt injection, model tampering, and shadow AI
  • Whether AI agents become coworkers—or chaos
  • What developer experience looks like when IDEs start to feel like chat windows
  • How engineers and teams can stay employable and relevant in an AI-native world

This episode is pragmatic, optimistic, and grounded in real-world delivery experience—perfect for engineers, tech leads, architects, and executives navigating the next phase of AI-driven software delivery.

Listen in for a CTO’s clear-eyed predictions on AI, DevSecOps, and what it really takes to ship safely at speed in 2026.

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