Artwork for Engineering Enablement by DX

Engineering Enablement by DX · October 16 · 39 min

The CAFE(S) framework: Improving AI agent effectiveness

As AI agents become more capable, context quality is increasingly the limiting factor in their performance. In this episode of Engineering Enablement, DX researcher Brian Houck by his CAFE(S) is joined by co-authors Max Kanat-Alexander (Capital One), Eirini Kalliamvakou (DX), and Margaret-Anne Storey (University of Victoria) to discuss CAFE(S), a new framework for improving context quality. The panelists introduce the five dimensions of CAFE(S): Clarity, Actionability, Fidelity, Efficiency, and Security. They walk through common context failures, how poor context accrues technical and cognitive debt, what it costs in developer productivity and operating spend, how AI is changing the skills engineers need, and why context review could become as important as code review. Where to find Margaret-Anne Storey: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-anne-storey • X: https://x.com/margaretstorey • Website: https://margaretstorey.com Where to find Max Kanat-Alexander: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkanat • X: https://x.com/mkanat • Website: https://www.codesimplicity.com Where to find Eirini Kalliamvakou: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eirini-kalliamvakou-1016865 • X: https://x.com/irina_kAl Where to find Brian Houck: • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhouck⁠⁠⁠⁠ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Intro (01:18) Meet the CAFE(S) authors (03:13) Introducing CAFE(S): Why context quality matters (06:32) Common context failure modes (08:30) The five dimensions of high-quality context (12:33) When model failures are actually context failures (18:24) Why the panel prioritizes clarity in CAFE(S) (22:34) How context quality relates to technical, cognitive, and intent debt (25:35) How human interventions reveal context failures (28:11) How context quality relates to AI fluency (30:28) How AI is changing what makes a good engineer (33:48) The case for context review as a discipline (38:44) Wrap-up Referenced: • CAFE(S): Your Agent Is Only as Good as Its Context • Nicole Forsgren • The Productivity-Experience Paradox - Annie Vella • Startup Studio • From Technical Debt to Cognitive and Intent Debt: Rethinking Software Health in the Age of AI • The AI-native developer • CodeScene

0:00-39:20

Play in

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

As AI agents become more capable, context quality is increasingly the limiting factor in their performance. In this episode of Engineering Enablement, DX researcher Brian Houck by his CAFE(S) is joined by co-authors Max Kanat-Alexander (Capital One), Eirini Kalliamvakou (DX), and Margaret-Anne Storey (University of Victoria) to discuss CAFE(S), a new framework for improving context quality.

The panelists introduce the five dimensions of CAFE(S): Clarity, Actionability, Fidelity, Efficiency, and Security. They walk through common context failures, how poor context accrues technical and cognitive debt, what it costs in developer productivity and operating spend, how AI is changing the skills engineers need, and why context review could become as important as code review.

Where to find Margaret-Anne Storey:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-anne-storey

• X: https://x.com/margaretstorey

• Website: https://margaretstorey.com

Where to find Max Kanat-Alexander:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkanat

• X: https://x.com/mkanat

• Website: https://www.codesimplicity.com

Where to find Eirini Kalliamvakou:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eirini-kalliamvakou-1016865

• X: https://x.com/irina_kAl

Where to find Brian Houck: