Chapter 5 - The Workflow Shift

I stopped opening an editor and started opening a conversation.

Here is the concrete shift in how my workflow looks now versus a year ago.

Before: 1. Read the ticket. 2. Open the repo. 3. Hunt for the right file. 4. Read the surrounding code to remember how it works. 5. Open three browser tabs. 6. Start typing. Get interrupted. Lose the thread. 7. Repeat.

Now: 1. Talk to Copilot about the ticket. "Here's what I want to do. What's the shape of the change?" 2. Co-plan the work. Break it into tasks small enough that an agent can own one. 3. Delegate the toil. Boilerplate, scaffolding, repetitive refactors, the obvious tests, those go to the agent. 4. Keep the judgement. Architecture, naming, trade-offs, the parts where being wrong is expensive, those stay with me. 5. Review. Approve. Refine. Ship.

The shift is from author to director. I'm still responsible for the film. I just don't have to operate every camera myself.

Critically, this isn't a one-way handover. I steer constantly. I push back on suggestions I don't like. I rewrite what doesn't fit. I throw things away. The conversation is the workflow now, and the conversation is where my expertise lives. The agent is fast, but I am the one who knows what good looks like for this codebase, this team, this user.