Hands-on workshop: AI Pair Programing - Can AI Replace Your Pair?

Is the era of human pair programming over? ThoughtWorks placed 'Replacing pair programming with AI' on 'hold' in their Tech Radar, but let's get hands-on and see how it compares.

Join us for an interactive workshop where we'll explore the capabilities of AI in pair programming using a familiar coding kata format. Instead of a traditional human pair, we will try tackling the kata in three stages to directly compare the experience:
- Pairing with a Real Person
- Pairing with the AI
- Pairing with a Real Person and AI

Our experiment will use Windsurf, an AI-native code editor designed for AI-accelerated development, combined with the latest Google Gemini 2.5 Pro model, known for its strong code capabilities.

Thoughtworks' assessment was based on tools like GitHub Copilot; we'll see how the landscape has shifted with these newer, powerful tools.

Please ensure you download and install the Windsurf editor from [https://windsurf.com/editor](https://windsurf.com/editor) before arriving. We will provide trial licenses at the beginning of the session.

Perhaps things have moved on significantly? Perhaps not? Let's find out together through hands-on experimentation!

This session is about collaborating with others, becoming a better developer and building your network, in a fun, relaxed environment.
We'll be sharing ideas, discussing best practices and using this as an opportunity to learn from our fellow coders.

All levels of experience very welcome, if you want to brush up on your skills or are a complete novice, do come along. All welcome! All you need to do is bring a laptop if you’d like to code along - please have your preferred language and editor setup.

Food and Drinks
Pizza and drinks will be provided upon arrival sponsored by Codurance, with vegetarian and vegan options available.

Venue Host
Our venue host is The Bradfield Centre, managed by Mantle Space. A huge thank you as always to the team for sponsoring the space.

Want to bring a friend? Great! Just ask them to RSVP so we know they are coming.

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