Overview
Robert Brennan demonstrates how to automate large-scale software refactoring using parallel agents. Agent orchestration enables tackling massive tech debt that’s too big for single-shot solutions by coordinating multiple AI agents working simultaneously on decomposed tasks like CVE remediation and code modernization.
Key Takeaways
- Break massive refactors into agent-sized chunks - decompose large tasks into parallelizable pieces that single agents can complete in one commit/PR
- Design for 90% automation, not 100% - maintain human review loops at intermediate steps rather than trying to fully automate complex refactoring workflows
- Use dependency ordering for systematic refactoring - start with leaf nodes in your dependency graph and work backwards to entry points for more principled migrations
- Context sharing prevents repeated failures - implement strategies for agents to share solutions when multiple agents hit the same problems during parallel execution
- Orchestration scales beyond individual productivity - while most developers get 20% productivity gains from single agents, orchestrated agents can achieve 30x improvements on specific tasks like CVE remediation
Topics Covered
- 0:00 - Introduction to Parallel Agent Automation: Overview of automating large-scale software engineering work including tech debt, code maintenance, and modernization using agent orchestration
- 3:00 - Evolution of AI Coding Tools: History from context-unaware code snippets to GitHub Copilot to autonomous coding agents like Devon/OpenHands to parallel agent orchestration
- 6:00 - AI Development Landscape: Market progression from IDE plugins to local agents to cloud-based agents to orchestrated agent fleets
- 8:30 - Use Cases for Agent Orchestration: Examples including CVE remediation (30x improvement), documentation automation, code modernization, and migration tasks
- 12:00 - Why Single Agents Fail at Scale: Technological limitations (context windows, laziness, domain knowledge) and human factors that require orchestration
- 14:30 - Orchestration Workflows: Human-in-the-loop process for decomposing tasks, managing parallel agents, and reviewing intermediate outputs
- 18:30 - OpenHands Refactor SDK Demo: Calvin demonstrates eliminating code smells using dependency graphs, batching strategies, and automated verification/fixing
- 27:30 - Task Decomposition Strategies: Methods for breaking down large refactors: piece-by-piece, dependency trees, and scaffolding approaches
- 32:00 - Context Sharing Between Agents: Strategies for agents to share learnings: manual entry, shared files, and agent-to-agent communication
- 34:30 - CVE Remediation Workshop: Hands-on exercise building a script to scan repositories for vulnerabilities and deploy parallel agents for fixes