Research Paper Argues AI Agents Are Redefining Software Engineering as a Discipline

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A paper titled 'Agentic Software: How AI Agents Are Restructuring the Software Paradigm' by Zhenfeng Cao of Lingxi Intelligent Investment proposes that AI agents are fundamentally altering the foundations of software engineering. The paper originally carried the more provocative title 'The End of Software Engineering' in its first arXiv version (June 2026), but the author softened the title just six days later, apparently acknowledging it overstated the argument. Cao traces software engineering back to its 1968 NATO origins and argues that its core assumption — humans decompose problems and maintain static code — is becoming obsolete as agents can now handle those tasks autonomously. The paper introduces concepts such as Agent-as-a-Service (AaaS), where users pay for outcomes rather than software licenses, and 'intent architect,' a proposed human role focused on clearly defining goals for agents to execute. A Thai-language analysis of the paper, written with AI assistance under human editorial oversight, notes that while the historical framing is compelling, readers should weigh some of the paper's stronger claims critically.

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