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.

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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