Augment Code guide (Paula Hingel) describing how AI agents are restructuring the software development lifecycle (SDLC), stage by stage. Thesis: AI produces **higher throughput in some stages and higher instability risk in others** — a symptom of uneven adoption without redrawing review boundaries. Draws on **DORA 2025**: AI adoption correlates positively with delivery throughput and product performance, but **negatively with stability**. Six stages revisited (Requirements, Design/Architecture, Implementation, Testing/QA, Deployment, Maintenance), three major risks (erosion of the junior pipeline, **circular validation** of AI-generated tests, governance gaps at scale), and three emerging roles (**Intent Engineering**, Agentic DevOps, AI Governance/Assurance). Actionable recommendations: audit one stage before scaling, stress-test governance, make **specification** central, define explicit rollback policies, redesign the junior role around review.
Atlassian data study (Inside Atlassian) measuring the actual return of an **AI-native SDLC** powered by **Rovo Dev**. Across 3,400 repositories from 2,500 customers (a quasi-experiment with propensity-score matching), adopting repositories merge **19% more PRs per month**; up to **37-51%** on low/medium-activity repositories and **59-87%** when **3 to 5 members** of the team adopt the tool. On the efficiency side, developers save **2-3 h/week** (≈10% of the 24 hours devoted to coding and review), i.e. 20-30 hours/week reinvested for a team of 10. The thesis: resolve Solow's (1987) "productivity paradox" by shifting from **usage metrics** (tokens) to **impact metrics** (throughput, time saved, failure rate, satisfaction). Recommendation: start with a **team** (not an individual) and measure 2-3 months later.