The Bottleneck Was Never the Code — Building Software with AI Agents
🐒 Barrel AI Monkeys is back for another evening of hands-on AI, technical insights, and great conversations!
With AI agents, we can build new products, rethink old systems, and make existing software faster and leaner than ever before.
So why aren't we seeing the big transformation yet?
Because the bottleneck was never writing code. It was everything around it.
Join us on November 26th as Andreas Ronge and Oscar Vale share their real-world experiences of working with AI agents and explore what happens when writing code is no longer the hardest part of software development.
As always, we'll kick things off with our AI Release Radar 📡, followed by technical talks, discussions, pizza, drinks, and networking!
## 📅 AGENDA
17:30–17:45 — Arrival & networking
17:45–18:00 — Welcome by Barrel AI organizers
18:00–18:20 — AI Release Radar
18:20–19:00 — The Bottleneck Was Never the Code — Andreas Ronge & Oscar Vale
19:00–19:30 — Pizza & networking
## 🚀 THE WARM-UP: AI RELEASE RADAR
Before the talks, we'll scan the latest developments in AI/ML — new models, agent frameworks, research papers, and the releases that actually matter to engineers and developers.
## 🎤 THE TALK: THE BOTTLENECK WAS NEVER THE CODE
With AI agents, we can build new products, rethink old systems and make existing software faster, leaner and easier to use than ever before. The possibilities are enormous. So why aren't we seeing the big change yet? Our answer: the bottleneck was never writing code. It was hidden behind it. Now that coding is almost free, the real bottlenecks are visible, and they change what it means to be a developer.
Understand it: how much do you need to know about code you no longer write, and at what level?
Trust it: agents get the details right but can still make big mistakes in design and requirements. How do you verify what you don't read?
Own it: handoffs between designers, developers, architects and testers have always slowed us down. Developers now need to own the whole flow, from user needs to production.
Andreas Ronge shares lessons from running a "software factory" where agents implement issues end-to-end, and how he builds trust with tester agents and PR retrospectives.
Oscar Vale maintains several applications alongside a full-time consulting job, from games and Japanese learning material to glasskartan.app. Being a developer today increasingly means juggling many projects at once and switching between building, prioritising and supporting users. Oscar shares how he uses agents not just to write code but to handle the work around it, like answering user emails and support questions, so that one person can keep several products alive.
## 📍 LOCATION & PRACTICAL INFO
📅 Thursday, November 26, 2026
🕠 17:30–19:30
📍 Fyrtornet / Drivbänken, Hyllie, Malmö
2nd floor, by Dawit Isaak Library (across from Emporia)
🎥 Not sure how to find us? Watch this short video showing you the way:
https://barrel.ai/graphics/find_us_here.mp4
🍕 Pizza and drinks included, sponsored by NordAxon.
Whether you're an AI engineer, software developer, or just curious about how AI agents are changing software development, you're very welcome to join us!
No fluff. No sales pitches. Just real AI/ML and people building things. 🐒
