Thoughtworks Technology Podcast
Aug 6, 2026 · 45 min · 11 segments
Harness engineering is still a new concept, but already we've noticed a challenge being consistently faced by technology leaders: how can a harness be used at scale across an organization to ensure…
Thomas SqueoGuest
Matt KamelmanGuest
Ken MugrageHost
So what we're talking about today is a topic that is, like a lot of topics this year, very new.
And it's interesting because there's a concept that didn't exist in the event in February.
You know, when we talk about creating AI, there's spectacode and all these other kinds of things.
And then in the event in June, not even six months later, if we do the math there, it's winter and spring, but it was actually only four or five months apart.
And it was very much a engineering first, which as an engineer, I appreciate, but it didn't address some of the enterprise things and so forth.
So what we're going to talk about today is what our guests are calling Enterprise Harness Engineering.
And so regular listeners who may have heard my soapbox speech before, where I think it's important that we define terms.
And I just want to remind the listeners that what we're looking for here is a shared understanding.
That for the next 30 or 40 minutes, when we say harness engine, you know what we're talking about.
And I encourage you, even if you don't agree with ours, to make sure you agree in your own teams.
so that when you're using words, if someone says the unit tests are done, everybody knows what that means.
So basically, harness engineering is the discipline of designing the controls around the AI agents so they can operate with reliability, accountability, and autonomy inside the business that is useful.
So what we're talking about today is a topic that is, like a lot of topics this year, very new.
And it's interesting because there's a concept that didn't exist in the event in February.
You know, when we talk about creating AI, there's spectacode and all these other kinds of things.
And then in the event in June, not even six months later, if we do the math there, it's winter and spring, but it was actually only four or five months apart.
And it was very much a engineering first, which as an engineer, I appreciate, but it didn't address some of the enterprise things and so forth.
So what we're going to talk about today is what our guests are calling Enterprise Harness Engineering.
And so regular listeners who may have heard my soapbox speech before, where I think it's important that we define terms.
And I just want to remind the listeners that what we're looking for here is a shared understanding.
That for the next 30 or 40 minutes, when we say harness engine, you know what we're talking about.
And I encourage you, even if you don't agree with ours, to make sure you agree in your own teams.
so that when you're using words, if someone says the unit tests are done, everybody knows what that means.
So basically, harness engineering is the discipline of designing the controls around the AI agents so they can operate with reliability, accountability, and autonomy inside the business that is useful.
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