AI-Infused Development: Lessons Learned and Patterns from Esri Engineers

In this technical session, learn how Esri engineers are using AI to improve code quality, accelerate development and testing, simplify documentation, and explore new ideas. You will learn about common AI-assisted development patterns, trade-offs between free and paid tools, and security considerations. Speakers review prompt-engineering basics and illustrate how AI can enhance your workflow with ArcGIS SDKs and ArcGIS APIs. You will leave with an understanding of how you can use AI effectively in real projects, what works and does not, and how to start applying AI in your own development process. Presenter: Raul Jimenez Ortega 📚 Resources ============= 📄 Slides: https://static.rainfocus.com/esri/26e... 🧠 Esri Developer AI Survey: https://arcg.is/mrPCj0 ⚙️Esri Software Engineering blog: https://www.esri.com/en-us/software-e... 📚 Proceedings: https://registration.esri.com/flow/es... 👥 Connect with Raul: https://links.rauljimenez.info/ 💬 Questions? We'd love to answer them on Esri Community! Developers general questions: https://community.esri.com/t5/develop... 📹 More Esri Developer & Technology Summit 2026 videos ============= Mediaspace (all): 2026 Esri Dev & Tech Plenary: https://mediaspace.esri.com/channel/2... 2026 Esri Developer & Technology Summit Technical Sessions: https://mediaspace.esri.com/channel/2... 🕑 Chapters ============ 00:00 Intro 00:35 Agenda 01:39 Speaker Presentation 02:01 Disclaimer 03:03 Reality check 03:45 Insights from the AI Survey 04:24 Demo: Vibe Coding 05:51 Glossary Term 07:23 The AI Coding Landscape 08:15 Choosing Different AI Models 08:38 Which is the Best AI Model 09:33 AI Models Trade-offs 09:56 How to Get the Most Out of Your Agent 10:32 Demo: GitHub Copilot Configurations 10:57 Cost & Consumption Models 11:36 AI Across the Dev Cycle 11:47 1. Research & Exploration 12:23 2. Code Generation 13:28 3. Migration & Conversion 14:27 4. Automation & Tooling 15:32 Demo: SKILL example 16:52 5. Debugging 17:23 Demo: Debugging with DevTools MCP 18:44 6. Testing & Validation 19:20 Demo: Reviewing PRs 20:00 7. Refactoring & Code Quality 20:30 Demo: Chrome AI assistant 20:56 8. Documentation 21:25 Top 5 AI Coding Workflows 22:13 AI Coding Workflows Grouped by Use Case 22:39 Demo: Spec Driven Development 25:10 Risk & Mitigations 25:21 Security & Privacy: Hard Rules 26:52 Organizational & Legal Considerations 27:19 Code Quality Risks 29:00 Risk That Affect You - Not Just Your Code 30:53 Technical Limitations to Know 32:44 SDK & Context Gaps 33:55 Where AI Still Falls 34:23 What AI Can Be Actually Good At 34:57 Habits of Highly Effective AI Developer 37:11 Conclusions 38:33 The Promise vs. The Reality 39:40 Esri Developer AI Survey 40:07 Where to Keep Learning 41:27 Connect with us on social 42:17 Questions 👉 Follow us ============= 🔔 Subscribe to Esri Developers on YouTube:    / @esridevs   🔴 Videos at Esri Mediaspace: https://bit.ly/3MXWbqq ❎ @EsriDevs on X: https://x.com/EsriDevs ❎ @EsriDevEvents on X: https://x.com/EsriDevEvents 💼 Esri Developers showcase on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/esr... ❎ @EsriStartups: https://x.com/EsriStartups 🐙 GitHub: https://github.com/esri & https://github.com/EsriDevEvents 🏷️ Tags ============= #EsriDevTech2026 #softwareengineering #aicoding #aiagents #geodev #lessonslearned #ai #developers #maps #mapping #esri #arcgis #gis #geospatial #artificialintelligence #codingagents #vibecoding #pairprogramming #skills #mcp