Software Development using AI

Douglas Flagg

Director Cloud Engineering

Fidelity Investments

• Bio: Doug graduated from UNCW in 2013 with a degree in Computer Science. His first development role was working as a student web developer for UNCW while still completing his undergraduate degree. Doug has worked at both Citrix Systems as a Site Reliability Engineer and at Fidelity Investments as a Software Engineer in the past. His role is now Director Cloud Engineering at Fidelity where he focuses on making it easier for Fidelity's development teams to use public clouds and encouraging best practices for infrastructure as code. He also acts as the technical lead for his development team where he works to ensure software changes are delivered effectively and maintainable.

• Session Details: Software Engineering is the application of Programming over time. The distinction is Programming is the act of writing a piece of software that does some task, Software Engineering is taking that software and engineering it in such a way that it scales to for example millions of users. AI has certainly made programming a far simpler task but how else has AI aided the other aspects of Software Engineering through the Software Change Lifecycle?
  
  This session will explore through the Software Change Lifecycle where AI has made an impact, what remains unchanged, what is more essential than ever and what can safely be delegated to AI. We do this by comparing how one software delivery team at Fidelity Investments worked prior to the introduction of AI capabilities with how we now deliver with the help of AI.
  
  Step by step we will follow a software change from inception throughout its entire lifecycle, including where AI made a difference:
  • ADRs or how we make technical decisions
  • Scrum & fractals or how we organize
  • Story creation, refinement and planning or how we set goals
  • Development & testing or how we implement
  • Review & CI or how we ensure quality -
  • Deployment, Release & Documentation or how we deliver changes -
  • Deprecation or how we responsibly sunset
  
  This session is aimed at giving soon-to-be and new graduates a sneak peek into how one team delivers software end to end. For experienced professionals there will be examples to take away like new ways of organizing or making decisions as a team.
  
  

Sara Izad

• Director of Engineering, Data and AI
• nCino
• 
  
  
• Bio:

• Session Details: AI is writing more code every day—cleaner, faster, and increasingly complex code. For engineers and students considering the field, this raises urgent questions: What's the future of my role? Should I still pursue engineering? What skills actually matter now?
  
  nCino is building with AI daily across a 500+ person engineering organization serving 2,000+ financial institutions globally. Engineering has changed and yet it hasn’t. Join us to explore:
  
  • What fundamental engineering skills matter more than ever (and which are commoditized)
  • How AI is redefining what "good engineering" means—from code quality to system thinking
  • Real examples from nCino's transition to AI-native development: what worked, what failed, and what surprised us
  • Practical strategies for current engineers to stay relevant and maximize AI in their workflow
  • Why students should still choose engineering—and how to prepare differently
  
  Whether you're an experienced engineer navigating this transition or a student deciding if engineering is right for you, you'll leave with a concrete understanding of where engineering is headed and how to position yourself for success.
  
  

Thomas Lovette

Software Engineering Manager
Vantaca

• Bio: Lovette is a local software development professional who specializes in application architecture and engineering team management. He graduated from UNCW's Computer Science department in 2012 and has worked in a variety of roles in the software development industry ranging from engineering to architecture to management. Thomas has recently taken an active role in shaping the evaluation and implementation of modern generative AI tooling in software applications, with a particular focus on leading teams to adopt the latest innovations in AI-assisted development.
  
  
  
  

Eron Neill

Senior Software Engineer
Vantaca
Eron_Neill@LinkedIn

• Bio: Eron is a software engineer with a background data integration and machine learning with a broad passion for science, mathematics, and continual learning.
  
  Outside of work and school he enjoys surfing, sailing, camping, and hobby projects.
  
  

• Session Details: How are today’s software development teams dealing with the new capabilities—and expectations—that generative AI tools introduce into a business?
  
  Thomas Lovette and Eron Neill share insight into how rapidly-evolving world of agentic software development is changing how teams work together and as part of a larger business

Ian Norris

• Senior Software Engineer
• nCino
• Ian_Norris@LinkedIn
  
  
• Bio: Ian is a UNCW alumni who graduated in 2020 with a degree in Computer Science. He began his career shortly after as a Software Engineer, eventually moving to nCino where he has worked for over three years. Since joining nCino, he has been instrumental in creating their data platform, enabling data intelligence in banking workflows, and now focuses on artificial intelligence. Currently, he is helping nCino build and scale intelligent agents within their bank operating systems.
  
  

• Session Details: Evolve from AI user to AI builder in this hands-on workshop where you'll create your own intelligent agent from scratch. Move beyond simple chatbots to build AI that can maintain context, use tools, and make decisions autonomously.
  
  Working with a modern agentic framework, you'll learn the fundamentals of agent design through rapid prototyping. We'll build a functional agent that can reason through problems, access external capabilities, and handle multi-step tasks.
  
  The session covers the complete journey from concept to deployment: starting with core agent patterns, implementing memory and tool use, and scaling from prototype to production-ready systems. You'll leave with working code, practical knowledge of agent architectures, and a clear roadmap for building sophisticated AI assistants.
  
  
• Hands On Session: Bringing a laptop (with Python installed) with you will make this session more benefical