Eric Zakariasson argues that agentic software work is moving from pair-programming toward managed production systems: developers increasingly define intent, constraints, feedback loops, and verification rather than writing every line themselves. Cursor is not fully at the "software factory" stage yet, but parts of its product and company already run with high autonomy, offering practical lessons for teams trying to build similar systems.
The talk frames AI coding progress as a climb through levels of autonomy:
- Autocomplete: the earliest Cursor-style experience, where AI accelerates local coding.
- Pair programmer: the common current state, where humans ask questions, request changes, and review suggestions.

