GenAI & BeyondConference50min
The Diabolical Developer: Rise of the Rogue Agents
This satirical talk explores the rise of autonomous AI agents in software development, highlighting risks, misuse, and the chaotic potential of agentic workflows in modern Java environments. Blending humor and caution, it examines security gaps, overconfident LLMs, and the disruptive impact of AI-driven code refactoring and management.
Martijn VerburgMicrosoft
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Thursday, October 9, 11:50-12:40
Room 4
“First, we ignored AI. Then we enabled it in our IDEs, then we let it take over our IDEs, then we piped it into our CLI. Now it’s spawning autonomous agents in our pipelines, pair programming our bugs, and refusing to write unit tests. We have truly arrived.”
In this latest instalment of the Diabolical Developer series, we go deep into the brave new world of agentic workflows. Armed with the latest Java 25, the wild-west of AI libraries, $$$ agentic hosting services, defacto protocols with no security built in, and LLMs that hallucinate with confidence, your diabolical protagonist returns – with a vengeance.
Key takeaways will be how to:
- Misuse Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent 2 Agent (A2A) to build agents that argue with each other.
- Create agent swarms that autonomously refactor your codebase – into oblivion.
- Be a Maniacal Manager of the swarms of agentic employees that never tire!
This talk is part cautionary tale, and part wake-up call for those who still think agentic AI isn't a complete reshaping of your future world. If you want a brutally honest, technically grounded, and entertaining look at where the Java ecosystem meets the AI agent revolution today, then this is the talk for you.
Martijn Verburg
Known by Devoxxians of old as the Diabolical Developer
I'm the Principal Software Engineering Group Manager for Java, Golang, and Python at Microsoft. Previously I was the co-founder and CEO at jClarity, which was acquired by Microsoft in August 2019. I am also a mentor at Creative HQ, New Zealand's leading start-up Incubator and the Executive Coach for the C-level suite at Mindstone (mindstone.com).
Formerly I was the Director of the London Java Community (~8000 members) where I co-founded what is now Eclipse Adoptium (adoptium.net), the worlds 2nd largest distributor of OpenJDK binaries. I was also the co-leader of the London CTO's network.
I have over 25 years of experience as a technology professional, open-source software (F/OSS), board member and strategic advisor for startup, fintech, investment banking, insurance, Internet payment, and Cloud SaaS sectors.
You can also find me presenting keynotes and talks at major conferences (Oracle Openworld, Devoxx, OSCON, JAX, etc) on topics such as business strategy, leadership, organisational behaviour, management, team optimization and technical subjects around Agile, Java and Software Development.
My main passion is building and facilitating teams by focusing on social and technical infrastructure. This includes setting an empathetic culture, ensuring transparent communication, mentoring engineering managers, installing a shared vision on the product, and driving execution. Seeing teams of smart, creative people rapidly develop high quality software makes me happy!
My other focus is technical community leadership and contributing to F/OSS. In 2012 I was added as one of the ~350 existing Java Champions for services rendered to the Java ecosystem.
My first book "The Well-Grounded Java Developer" with Ben Evans was published by Manning in June 2012 with the 2nd edition released in 2023.
Outside of work I'm a voracious traveller and love to meet interesting new people in unusual places!
I'm the Principal Software Engineering Group Manager for Java, Golang, and Python at Microsoft. Previously I was the co-founder and CEO at jClarity, which was acquired by Microsoft in August 2019. I am also a mentor at Creative HQ, New Zealand's leading start-up Incubator and the Executive Coach for the C-level suite at Mindstone (mindstone.com).
Formerly I was the Director of the London Java Community (~8000 members) where I co-founded what is now Eclipse Adoptium (adoptium.net), the worlds 2nd largest distributor of OpenJDK binaries. I was also the co-leader of the London CTO's network.
I have over 25 years of experience as a technology professional, open-source software (F/OSS), board member and strategic advisor for startup, fintech, investment banking, insurance, Internet payment, and Cloud SaaS sectors.
You can also find me presenting keynotes and talks at major conferences (Oracle Openworld, Devoxx, OSCON, JAX, etc) on topics such as business strategy, leadership, organisational behaviour, management, team optimization and technical subjects around Agile, Java and Software Development.
My main passion is building and facilitating teams by focusing on social and technical infrastructure. This includes setting an empathetic culture, ensuring transparent communication, mentoring engineering managers, installing a shared vision on the product, and driving execution. Seeing teams of smart, creative people rapidly develop high quality software makes me happy!
My other focus is technical community leadership and contributing to F/OSS. In 2012 I was added as one of the ~350 existing Java Champions for services rendered to the Java ecosystem.
My first book "The Well-Grounded Java Developer" with Ben Evans was published by Manning in June 2012 with the 2nd edition released in 2023.
Outside of work I'm a voracious traveller and love to meet interesting new people in unusual places!
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