Modern Software Podcast: David Robertson on AI-Generated Books, Autonomous SDLC, and Modern Development Tools
In this episode of the Modern Software Podcast, host Mike Verinder sits down with David Robertson, Director of Enterprise Software at Exterior Finance, for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, software automation, and modern development practices.
Mike and David discuss:
- AI-Generated Content: David shares his journey of experimenting with ChatGPT to write and publish books, from ideation to publication in under 10 days. He explains the challenges of prompt engineering, AI consistency, and generating AI-driven cover art for his second book—a children's picture book.
- The Autonomous SDLC: They explore the idea of an autonomous software development life cycle (SDLC), covering how AI tools can generate test cases, write code, automate testing, and monitor production environments. Mike shares insights on current tools, autonomous testing innovations, and the investment hurdles preventing widespread adoption.
- Modern Development Tools: David dives into the power of GitHub Copilot for accelerating development workflows, from writing boilerplate code to generating unit tests and learning Python for emerging AI frameworks like LangChain and Semantic Kernel. They also touch on the rise of tools like Cursor AI Studio and the role of AI in enterprise coding environments.
- Security Testing and DevOps: The conversation shifts to the growing importance of security testing in modern software development. David discusses integrating static and dynamic analysis tools into CI/CD pipelines to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance—critical for finance organizations.
- Testing Trends: Mike provides valuable insights into the current state of automated testing, including API testing, mobile testing challenges, and the role of tools like Selenium, BrowserStack, and Sauce Labs. They explore why Selenium remains dominant in the industry despite new innovations in AI testing.
Along the way, Mike and David reminisce about their shared history at Drive Financial, the evolution of development tools, late-night deployments, and the value of strong teams in software projects.
This episode is packed with insights into AI, testing trends, and the future of automation—perfect for developers, testers, and software enthusiasts alike.
🔔 Subscribe to Modern Software for more interviews and discussions on software development, testing, and innovation!
Topics Covered:
- AI-generated books and images
- Autonomous testing and SDLC
- GitHub Copilot and modern coding tools
- Security testing trends and DevOps integration
- The challenges of mobile testing and enterprise tools
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!