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mabl launches mabl GenAI Test Creation, mabl Tools for Playwright

The testing company mabl has announced two new tools designed to improve the software testing process: mabl GenAI Test Creation and mabl Tools for Playwright.  Mabl GenAI Test Creation uses generative AI to automatically create tests based on existing assets. The tests it generates are designed to be easy to maintain in order to cut down on technical debt in the testing process.  “mabl’s GenAI Test Creation is changing how we approach and execute work,” said Randall Morse, senior principal software engineer at Barracuda Networks. “It allows us to generate test cases from just a few words and automatically create a test plan with assertions, accelerating our development and testing cycle. Its ease of use helps our junior engineers extend their reach while freeing up senior developers to tackle more complex challenges.” The other new tool is mabl Tools for Playwright, which provides capabilities for testing using the open source testing framework Playwright .  Mabl T...

JetBrains AI Assistant can now use local LLMs

JetBrains has announced an update to its AI Assistant that enables it to use local models so that developers under strict data privacy and compliance rules can work with it.  To enable this feature, users will need to enable LM Studio under “Third-party AI providers” in the AI Assistant settings. LM Studio provides an interface for managing and running AI models on a local machine. This latest release also provides access to the latest models from Anthropic and OpenAI, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 3.5 Haiku , and OpenAI’s o1, o1-mini, and o3-mini . According to JetBrains the o3-mini and o1-mini models are ideal for users who need faster and cost-efficient reasoning capabilities. “These compact OpenAI models offer faster processing than o1 and are tailored for coding, scientific, and mathematical tasks,” JetBrains wrote in a blog post .  JetBrains’ AI Assistant is integrated into JetBrains IDEs and can do things such as autocomplete lines, functions, or blo...

More than machines: The inner workings of AI agents

In my past experience designing conversational systems, I saw firsthand the limitations of traditional AI. The system I worked with could reliably detect entities, but its rigid logic made scaling these solutions impossible. Conversations followed preprogrammed paths: if the user said X, respond with Y. Any deviation broke the flow, highlighting how inflexible these systems were. Agents, powered by foundation models, change this. They’re autonomous systems capable of handling unpredictable scenarios and collaborating seamlessly. An agent can plan a trip, gather real-time data, or manage a customer account, adapting to changes on the fly. Agents aren’t just users of tools; they’re tools themselves. Like modular components, they work independently or integrate with others to solve complex problems. Predictive models brought precision forecasting. Generative models redefined creativity. Now, Agentic AI takes intelligence into autonomous action. In this article, we’ll dissect the anato...

The future of embedded analytics and how it’s shaping decision making

Embedded analytics is poised for significant transformation, driven by advancements in AI, data visualization, and the increasing demand for data-driven decision-making. The growing emphasis on data-driven strategies has put embedded analytics in a central role for improving operational efficiency, customer experiences, and overall business performance. The future of embedded analytics will be defined by its increasing intelligence, accessibility, and integration into everyday business processes. With the help of AI, real-time insights, and personalized experiences, embedded analytics will empower more users to make data-driven decisions and more informed choices. Here are key trends shaping the future of embedded analytics: 1. AI and Machine Learning Integration Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics : Embedded analytics will increasingly leverage AI and machine learning to not just analyze historical data but to predict future trends and provide prescriptive insights. This will e...

Harness and Traceable Announce Merger to Shape the Future of AI-Driven Software Delivery

Harness , the AI-Native Software Delivery Platform company, and  Traceable , the next-generation API Security Platform, today jointly announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement, creating the world’s most advanced AI-native DevSecOps platform.  Together, Harness and Traceable will enable software teams to seamlessly develop, deploy, and secure applications, ensuring security is embedded at every stage of the software lifecycle. Harness and Traceable both originated from BIG Labs, a  San Francisco -based technology startup studio founded by  Jyoti Bansal , who is CEO and co-founder of both companies. Harness was launched in 2017 with a mission to simplify software delivery for software developers around the world, and has since grown into a full-fledged suite of industry-leading product modules that span the entire software delivery lifecycle. Traceable was launched in 2020 to secure trillions of lines of code and millions of APIs that modern soft...

Anthropic releases dataset that provides insight into how AI is influencing labor market

Anthropic has published the Anthropic Economic Index in an attempt to understand how AI is impacting labor markets.  The report details how AI is actually being used by workers today, which tasks it’s being used for, and how worker salary influences AI use.  Anthropic decided to group AI use by occupational tasks rather than occupations, as multiple jobs often share the same tasks, such as visual pattern recognition being used by designers, photographers, security scanners, and radiologists.  “Certain tasks lend themselves better to being automated or augmented by a new technology than others. We’d therefore expect AI to be adopted selectively for different tasks across different occupations, and that analyzing tasks—in addition to jobs as a whole—would give us a fuller picture of how AI is being integrated into the economy,” Anthropic wrote in a post .  Computer and mathematical tasks — which include things like software modification, code debugging, and netw...

Feb 7, 2025: Development tools that have recently added new AI capabilities

Software companies are constantly trying to add more and more AI features to their platforms, and it can be hard to keep up with it all. We’ve written this roundup to share updates from 10 notable companies that have recently enhanced their products with AI.  Google announces Gemini 2.0 Flash, Flash-Lite, and Pro Gemini 2.0 Flash is generally available and offers features like native tool use, a 1 million token context window, and multimodal input. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is a cost-optimized model ideal for large scale text output, and Gemini 2.0 Pro is an update to the company’s strongest and most-performant model.  All three models are now available in the Gemini API via Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.  GitHub Copilot introduces agent mode, next edit suggestions (both in preview) Agent mode is a new feature that allows Copilot to iterate on its own output. This allows it to complete a request in one go, recognize and automatically fix errors, suggest terminal comm...

Data is the new petroleum; companies need better pipelines — and better oil-spill clean-up methods

Data powers the 21st-century economy in the same way that petroleum did last century — but there’s one key difference, today the producers and users of this vital resource are one and the same. These days, every organization is pumping out data by the barrel and investing mightily in ways to refine and use it to fuel business momentum. But often, companies fail to fully protect data as the key resource it is, despite its critical role in day-to-day operations. Data disruptions, much like an oil spill, can halt business in its tracks. While enterprises are spending billions of dollars to try to keep bad actors from compromising their networks, what happens when the hackers inevitably infiltrate the IT environment?   Without the right systems in place to back up and restore proprietary information, the big investments that companies are making in advanced analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence are at risk. If data is the 21st-century oil, businesses need better sto...

Mirantis Launches Open Source Project for Platform Engineering that Accelerates Innovation for Modern Distributed Workloads

Mirantis , providing organizations with total control over their strategic infrastructure using open-source software, today launched  k0rdent , the first open-source Distributed Container Management Environment (DCME) that provides a single control point for cloud native applications – on-premises, on public clouds, at the edge – on any infrastructure, anywhere. By managing Kubernetes clusters on any infrastructure, k0rdent makes it easy for platform engineers to create customized internal developer platforms (IDPs). The k0rdent architecture is composable so that platform engineers can easily customize it to their specific requirements, and standardized deployment templates are provided to speed implementations. “Organizations everywhere are experiencing the need to increase developer velocity and reduce time-to-market, while simplifying operations and managing compliance risks – but at the same time have to deal with managing ever-increasing Kubernetes sprawl,” said Randy Bias v...

4 key skills that make software engineering leaders more effective

In the digital age, software engineering leaders are pivotal in driving business priorities forward. Yet, the role is fraught with challenges, as leaders juggle numerous responsibilities, often finding themselves mired in tactical tasks at the expense of strategic initiatives. A recent Gartner survey sheds light on this issue, revealing that only 7% excel across all three of their core responsibilities: leading high-performing teams , delivering impactful solutions, and driving business value. To navigate these challenges and enhance their effectiveness, software engineering leaders should focus on four strategic actions: understanding stakeholder needs, communicating in business language, maintaining a forward-looking roadmap, and holding teams accountable for business outcomes. Understanding Stakeholder Needs Building trust and fostering collaboration with stakeholders are crucial for software engineering leaders. By regularly engaging with stakeholders, leaders can align s...

Podcast: From “shift left” to “shift everywhere”

For years developers have been told to shift left, meaning that testing happens at the start of the software development process. The idea behind this is that it’s easier and more cost effective to find and fix an issue earlier on in an application’s life cycle. However, Dylan Thomas, senior director of product engineering at OpenText Cybersecurity, believes that companies should be moving to a “shift everywhere” approach where testing doesn’t just happen at the beginning or the end, but is rather a continuous process.  “In 2025, DevSecOps will continue evolving beyond the ‘shift-left’ paradigm, embracing a more mature ‘shift everywhere’ approach. This shift calls on organizations to apply the right tools at the right stages of the DevSecOps cycle, improving efficiency and effectiveness in security practices,” he predicted at the end of last year.  Thomas was interviewed on the most recent episode of our podcast, What the Dev?, to talk more about this concept of shift eve...

Code.org and Amazon launch new curriculum to teach AI skills to kids in grades 8-12

Code.org and Amazon have announced the launch of a new curriculum for grades 8-12 to teach AI coding skills to kids. Code.org is a learning platform for computer science that is used in many schools, and it has been partnering with Amazon on various educational initiatives for a decade. According to Code.org, this new program, Exploring Generative AI , will teach how AI works, how to create with it, and the ethical implications of an AI-driven world.  Specifically, students will learn the internal structure of generative AI models by studying their input, storage, process, and output. They’ll learn how models represent language, the impact of training data on model performance, and the potential for bias. Students will then use this knowledge to design chatbots for personally relevant issues or creative tasks, construct guidance on appropriate AI usage, and develop a chatbot to address an issue in their community.  “Our mission at Code.org is to ensure every student has ...

WaveMaker releases AutoCode plugin for Figma for generating front-end components

The web and mobile development company WaveMaker today announced the launch of WaveMaker AutoCode , which is an AI-powered plugin for Figma that creates “pixel-perfect front-end components with lightning fast accuracy,” according to the company.  Figma is a collaborative design platform that brings together design and development teams into a single space. WaveMaker AutoCode works out-of-the-box for Figma designs using Material 3, and it can also be altered to work with client-proprietary design systems.  It automatically identifies design elements in Figma such as forms, lists, and cards, and maps them to corresponding WaveMaker Studio widgets. WaveMaker AutoCode supports Figma variables, modes, and design tokens, which the company explained helps maintain the integrity of the original design throughout the development process. The generated code can also be customized with JavaScript code that adds business logic, helping make the handoff to the frontend engineering t...