The Builders Era: AI, DevEx, and the Developer as the Hero

The world of software development is not just evolving; it’s undergoing a seismic shift. A new epoch is dawning, one defined by the unprecedented power of artificial intelligence, a relentless focus on developer experience (DevEx), and the repositioning of the developer as the central hero in every organization’s success story. This is the “Builder’s Era,” a time where the craft of creating software is more vital, more complex, and more impactful than ever before. In this transformative landscape, the most successful teams will be those who learn to harness AI not as a replacement for human ingenuity, but as a powerful amplifier of it.

This cultural and technological transformation is the central theme of GitKon 2025, a free, two-day virtual event designed to redefine what it means to “ship responsibly in the age of AI.” Hosted by GitKraken, the event is a celebration of the makers, maintainers, mentors, and leaders who are building the future. It’s a call to arms for a community navigating the most significant change in a generation, focusing on the core principle that developers are, and will remain, the first-class citizens of business innovation. The central message is unequivocal: this is an era of AI-assisted development, not AI-driven replacement. The very craft of software development matters more now than it has at any point in the last two decades.

The Dawn of a New Epoch: AI as the Co-pilot, Not the Pilot

The narrative surrounding artificial intelligence in software development has often been dominated by a sense of apprehension. Will AI make developers obsolete? The resounding answer from the front lines of innovation is a definitive “no.” Instead, we are witnessing the rise of AI as the ultimate co-pilot, a tool that augments, accelerates, and enhances the creative and problem-solving capabilities of human developers. The goal isn’t to remove the builder from the equation but to empower them with tools that eliminate tedious, repetitive work and free them to focus on what truly matters: elegant architecture, complex problem-solving, and creating genuine value for the end-user.

This new paradigm requires a fundamental shift in mindset. AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a practical tool integrated into the daily workflow. It can draft boilerplate code, generate unit tests, translate code between languages, and suggest optimizations in real-time. By offloading this cognitive weight, AI allows developers to operate at a higher level of abstraction. They can spend less time wrestling with syntax and more time strategizing about system design, user experience, and business logic. This elevation of the developer’s role is the cornerstone of the Builder’s Era.

As Jeremy Castile, VP of developer research at GitKraken, emphasizes, the importance of genuine skill is at an all-time high.

“The craft of software development matters now more than it ever has in the last 20 years.”

This statement cuts through the hype. An AI can generate code, but it takes a skilled developer to ask the right questions, to validate the AI’s output for security and efficiency, and to weave its suggestions into the intricate tapestry of a large-scale application. The craft lies in the critical thinking, the architectural vision, and the deep understanding of the problem domain—qualities that remain uniquely human.

Elevating the Craft: Why Developer Experience (DevEx) is the New Competitive Edge

As AI integrates more deeply into our toolchains, the focus naturally shifts to the overall developer experience. DevEx is the sum of all interactions a developer has with the tools, platforms, and processes required to do their job. In the Builder’s Era, a superior DevEx is not a luxury; it is a critical business imperative. Organizations that invest in frictionless, intuitive, and empowering workflows will attract and retain top talent, innovate faster, and produce higher-quality software.

A poor DevEx, characterized by toolchain complexity, information silos, and excessive cognitive load, is a direct impediment to productivity and morale. Developers who spend their days fighting clunky tools, waiting for slow builds, or navigating convoluted processes are not engaged in high-value work. They are trapped in a cycle of friction that stifles creativity and leads to burnout.

In the age of AI, a world-class DevEx includes:

• Seamless AI Integration: AI tools that are embedded naturally into the IDE and workflow, providing helpful suggestions without being disruptive.
• Reduced Cognitive Load: Automating routine tasks and providing clear, actionable insights so developers can maintain focus and flow.
• Intelligent Observability: Tools that not only report errors but also provide context and suggest potential solutions, powered by AI analysis.
• Collaborative Platforms: Environments that foster seamless collaboration between developers, product managers, and even the new agentic AI team members.

For engineering leaders, understanding and improving DevEx is paramount. This requires moving beyond simplistic metrics and gaining a holistic view of the engineering ecosystem. It’s about measuring what matters, such as the impact of AI on productivity, overall development velocity, code quality trends, and the qualitative experience of the developers themselves. This is precisely the challenge that new tools are beginning to address, offering leaders visibility into the health and performance of their teams in this new, complex environment.

GitKon 2025: Charting the Course for the Builder’s Era

To navigate this new terrain, developers and leaders need a forum for sharing knowledge, exploring new frameworks, and sharpening their skills. GitKon 2025 is designed to be that forum, with a carefully curated agenda that spans two full days, December 10th and 11th. The first day is dedicated to empowering developers, while the second day focuses on equipping leaders to guide their teams through this profound transformation.

The event is structured to provide actionable insights for every role within a software team.

• For Developers: The focus is on practical application. Sessions will help you sharpen your craft, explore the next generation of development tools, and learn concrete strategies for working smarter with AI and automation to enhance your productivity and impact.
• For Leaders: The agenda addresses the strategic challenges of the modern era. You will discover proven frameworks for scaling a positive and innovative culture, learn how to effectively measure and improve DevEx, and gain the confidence to lead your teams through the AI-driven transformation.

This dual focus ensures that the entire team—from the individual contributor to the C-suite—can align on a shared vision for building software in the Builder’s Era.

Day One for the Builders: Mastering the Tools of Modern Development

The first day of GitKon kicks off with a keynote from Chris Geoghegan, VP of Product at Zapier, who will address one of the most pressing challenges in modern software teams: managing complexity. His session on context engineering as a team sport promises to be a game-changer.

Traditionally, software development has been plagued by handoffs. Product managers hand off requirements to engineers, who then build the software. With the introduction of AI, there’s a new team member to consider: the agentic AI. This adds another layer of potential miscommunication and friction. Geoghegan’s talk will explore how to create a shared AI context that eliminates these handoffs, ensuring that product, engineering, and AI are all working from the same playbook.

What is “context engineering”? It’s the deliberate practice of providing AI systems with the rich, nuanced information they need to be effective partners. This includes business goals, architectural constraints, existing codebase patterns, and user personas. When this context is shared and maintained collaboratively, the AI transitions from a simple code generator to a true co-pilot that understands the why behind the what.

Geoghegan’s session will provide a framework for making this model a reality, helping teams maintain their velocity and scale effectively as they integrate AI more deeply into their processes.

Day Two for the Leaders: Navigating the AI Transformation with Data and Empathy

The second day is dedicated to the leaders tasked with steering their organizations through this period of immense change. The keynote will be delivered by Nathan Harvey, the DORA lead at Google Cloud, who will unveil groundbreaking research from the 2025 DORA report on the real-world impact of AI on software development.

Harvey’s presentation will directly challenge a common and dangerous misconception: that simply applying AI tools across the board will automatically increase team performance. The research reveals a more complex reality.

The core finding is that “throwing AI at everything does not necessarily speed up your team,” and in some cases, it can actually slow it down.

This happens when teams spend more time correcting inaccurate AI-generated code, when the cognitive overhead of managing the new tools outweighs the benefits, or when an over-reliance on AI leads to an erosion of core engineering skills.

Harvey’s talk will go beyond this headline finding to explore fascinating insights into different team archetypes and how they interact with AI. The research identifies the best mix of AI utilization for achieving maximum productivity gains, suggesting that a strategic, tailored approach is far more effective than a one-size-fits-all mandate. Leaders will walk away with a data-driven understanding of how to implement AI responsibly and effectively, avoiding the common pitfalls that can derail transformation efforts.

This leadership-focused day will also feature a closer look at platforms like GitKraken’s new Insights product, which is designed to give engineering leaders the visibility they need to manage this new reality. Such tools provide a unified dashboard to track key indicators, helping leaders answer critical questions:

• AI Impact: Are our AI initiatives actually improving productivity, or are they creating hidden costs?
• Velocity: How quickly are we delivering value, and where are the bottlenecks in our process?
• Code Quality: Is our code quality improving or degrading as we adopt more AI-generated code?
• Developer Experience: Are our developers engaged and empowered, or are they struggling with friction and burnout?

By arming leaders with this level of insight, the goal is to enable them to make informed decisions that support their teams and drive meaningful business outcomes.

The Cultural Shift: Placing the Developer at the Heart of Innovation

Ultimately, the Builder’s Era is about more than just technology; it represents a profound cultural shift. It’s about cementing the developer’s role at the forefront of the business, not as a downstream implementer of ideas but as a core participant in the entire value creation lifecycle. When developers are empowered with intelligent tools and a frictionless environment, they are free to engage more deeply with the business—to understand customer needs, contribute to product strategy, and take ownership of the outcomes they produce.

This cultural transformation ensures that developers are fully engaged in every stage of the software journey, from initial ideation to long-term maintenance. AI and superior DevEx are the twin engines driving this change, breaking down the traditional barriers between technology and business and fostering a more collaborative, innovative, and effective organization. The developer is the hero of this story, equipped with new powers and placed at the center of the action, ready to build the solutions that will define our future.

Your Invitation to the Builder’s Era

The transformation is already underway. The tools are here, the challenges are clear, and the opportunity is immense. Now is the time for builders and leaders to come together to share, learn, and define the best practices for this new era of software development. This is your opportunity to move beyond the hype and gain the practical skills and strategic insights needed to thrive.

Join the conversation and take your place at the forefront of the Builder’s Era.

To register for this free, two-day virtual event on December 10th and 11th, visit gitkon.com.