> Markdown version of [/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1739-agentic-drift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1739-agentic-drift). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

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# Agentic Drift: keeping pace with your agents


- **Event:** World Congress 2026 North America

## Description

As agents increase the velocity at which code gets written, platforms get modified, and documentation gets updated, the things teams rely on can change faster than any human can track, validate, or understand. Call it Agentic Drift.

Agentic Drift shows up as pipelines failing at increasing frequency, vulnerability counts creeping upward, internal tools that have quietly evolved away from their original intent, and documentation that no longer reflects how a system actually works. Teams are already experiencing it but the frameworks for managing it are still emerging.

This talk introduces Agentic Drift and how to solve it. Drawing on experience building and operating developer platforms alongside AI agents, we'll cover:
- how to detect drift using signals your team already has: CI/CD pipelines, observability tools, security scanners, and end-user feedback
- how to design remediation pathways that fit your team's risk tolerance, from triggered reviews to continuous validation
- a model for keeping humans meaningfully in the loop without becoming a bottleneck to the velocity agents provide

The future of software engineering is about more than what agents can build. We also need to design teams and systems to keep pace with these changes.

## Speaker

### [John Coghlan](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@john-coghlan)

Senior Director, Developer Advocacy at GitLab


## Related talks at this congress

- [The Agentic Engineering Loop](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1704-the-agentic) — Kevin Lin
- [Designing APIs That Survive AI Agents at Scale](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1714-designing-apis-that) — Phani Pendurthi
- [Closing the Visibility Gap: Lessons from Safety Critical Agentic Systems](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1408-closing-the) — Vivek Pandit
- [The spectrum of agentic coding: From vibe coding to high-quality software engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-north-america/sessions/1437-the-spectrum-of) — YK Sugi

## Watch remotely

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- All full videos, bookmarks, and playlists
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[See pricing](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/pricing)

## Links

- [Get tickets](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/world-congress-north-america/tickets)