Is AI-accelerated development just faster code, or a whole new way of delivering technology across the enterprise? In the debut episode of Ready, Set, Runtime (Season 1: The New SDLC), AHEAD Field CTO Michael "MK" Kolbrener sits down with Josh Perkins and Craig Martin to break down what has actually changed.
"18 months at the current rate of change is equivalent to five years a few years ago." – Josh Perkins, VP, Emerging Technologies
AI is reshaping not just what software does, but how it gets planned, built, secured, and paid for. MK, Josh, and Craig trace accelerated development from code generation to a digital workforce of AI agents, and explain why the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is the starting point for something much bigger across the business.
They get candid about the worst practices they've seen: flooding teams with low-quality generated code, mistaking code generation for software engineering, and waiting on the sidelines out of fear of getting it wrong. They also cover where to start (business outcomes, not tools), why technical debt is one of the smartest first targets, how DevOps maturity and data readiness predict success, and what comes next: context engineering, tokenomics, and building enough trust to hand real work to agentic AI.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: MK, Josh Perkins & Craig Martin
01:52 What Is AI-Accelerated Development?
07:45 From SDLC to XDLC: Beyond Software
09:12 What's Driving the Shift: Speed, Tech Debt & Adoption
14:54 The Worst Practices in Adopting AI Dev Tools
21:47 Where to Start: Business Outcomes Over Tools
31:47 The Next 18 Months: Context Engineering, Tokenomics & Trust
41:41 What's Most Exciting in Emerging Tech Right Now
About the Guests
Josh Perkins is Vice President of Emerging Technologies at AHEAD, where he helps shape the company's AI strategy and works with enterprise leaders to turn emerging technologies into scalable capabilities. His work spans AI platforms, infrastructure, and operating models. He previously served as a Field CTO at AHEAD.
Craig Martin is Vice President of Advanced Engineering at AHEAD, where he helps clients turn strategy into execution through the architecture, engineering models, and delivery patterns needed to modernize applications, platforms, and operations. Before AHEAD, he led large-scale cloud modernization efforts and founded an AI-focused startup built to help athletes reach their goals.
About the Host
Michael "MK" Kolbrener is Field CTO at AHEAD, focused on Financial Services and Capital Markets. He has spent more than 20 years delivering enterprise technology and works at the intersection of technology and business strategy.
About the Series
Ready, Set, Runtime is an AHEAD podcast featuring technology leaders who are actively shaping the industry. Each episode explores emerging innovations across key technology domains and their impact on enterprise practices, strategies, and operations, as seen through the eyes of those doing the work.
Season 1: The New SDLC is an eight-episode discussion following AI's impact across the full software development lifecycle, from accelerated development and agentic engineering to security, economics, enterprise deployment, and infrastructure. No vendor pitch. No hype. Just practitioner-level conversation.
Have a question about your own environment? Talk to AHEAD: https://www.ahead.com
