Resource
AI onboarding checklist (printable)
A pragmatic checklist for engineering leaders rolling out AI coding assistants and agents without turning your SDLC into an unreviewed black box. Save as PDF via your browser print dialog if you want a portable copy.
0) Decide the pilot lane
- Pick one product area or platform team (not “everyone at once”).
- Name an executive sponsor and an engineering lead who can change norms.
- Write a one-paragraph definition of success (quality, speed, or risk reduction).
1) Inventory reality (tools + data)
- List every AI tool touching code, CI, or tickets (including “shadow” trials).
- Classify repos and tickets: customer PII, secrets, regulated data, internal-only.
- Confirm where prompts may be processed (local, vendor cloud, enterprise controls).
2) Set non-negotiable engineering norms
- Agent-produced changes ship through PRs with human review—no direct-to-main shortcuts.
- Cap diff size for agent-assisted PRs until reviewers say the noise is manageable.
- Define what evidence reviewers need (tests, risk notes, rollback plan) for high-risk paths.
3) PR and review checklist (team-wide)
- Author states what the agent did vs. what a human verified (short PR description template).
- Security-sensitive files require explicit reviewer (CODEOWNERS or equivalent).
- If tests are generated, reviewers spot-check meaningful cases—not only green CI.
4) Metrics that will not lie to you
- Track revert rate, defect rate, and review turnaround—not “lines generated.”
- Track time-to-first-review-comment on agent-heavy PRs (signal of trust/uncertainty).
- Survey ICs monthly: what is faster, what feels less safe, what should we ban.
5) Rollout communications
- Publish a short internal FAQ: allowed use cases, banned use cases, and escalation path.
- Give managers a 5-minute talk track: “this is a practice change, not a perk.”
- Plan a retro after week two: keep, tweak, or stop—based on metrics + incidents.
Want help running this end-to-end?
We facilitate the workshops, produce the artifacts, and help you align security and leads on a phased plan.