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World Congress 2026 Europe • Jul 10, 2026 • Session details

Refactoring in the Age of AI

Dominik Srednicki , Elena Lucarelli

Why do AI assistants create broken pull requests during refactoring? Discover how applying strict technical guardrails makes code changes safe, transforming your role from typist to director.

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#1 about 3 min

The problem of AI vibe refactoring in large codebases

Generic or hyper-specific prompts cause AI coding assistants to break application dependencies during refactoring.

#2 about 3 min

Why AI struggles with classical refactoring methodologies

Large language models understand classical refactoring steps but fail to maintain the sequence, state, and safety nets required to execute them.

#3 about 3 min

Enforcing hard constraints through AI workflows

Establishing a rigorous workflow limits AI workarounds by analyzing the codebase, matching intents to patterns, and generating a structured execution plan.

#4 about 2 min

Designing the architecture of an AI refactoring pipeline

Static analyzers and a prompt-aware context engine combine to generate step-by-step execution plans analogous to spec-driven development.

#5 about 3 min

Designing project constitutions and structured refactoring checklists

Defining project metadata, phased execution plans, and atomic task checklists ensures AI maintains invariants and test coverage throughout the refactoring loop.

#6 about 4 min

Transitioning from code typists to refactoring workflow directors

Reviewing structured execution plans and checklists replaces manual code diff reviews while integrating up-to-date documentation directly into the repository.

#7 about 4 min

Establishing safety boundaries for AI-assisted code refactoring

Mandatory green tests, bounded blast radiuses, verifiable patterns, and incremental changes are essential prerequisites for allowing automated refactoring.

#8 about 2 min

Improving git blame log traceability with structured guardrails

Visualizing the clarity of git commits produced via strict workflows versus vague AI adjustments demonstrates the necessity of system guardrails.

#9 about 5 min

Audience Q&A on workflow formulation and spec-driven development

Audience questions address the validation of step-by-step checklists, applying automation to feature development, and injecting markdown patterns into contexts without vector search.

Matching moments

1:27 min

Addressing refactoring challenges with AI tools

Daniel Oh Daniel Oh · World Congress 2024

1:55 min

Shifting developer workloads and realistic AI productivity gains

Chris Heilmann +2 · LIVE

2:06 min

Rethinking team structures around AI agent capabilities

Mike Mike · World Congress 2025

1:19 min

Turning repetitive developer tasks into automated AI agent skills

Markus Eisele Markus Eisele · World Congress 2026 Europe

3:45 min

Balancing AI tool mandates with developer trust and productivity

Chris Heilmann +2 · LIVE

6:27 min

Using AI copilots to explain and debug legacy codebases

Chris Heilmann +2 · LIVE

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