The 1st Seminar on AI Agents for Software Engineering (A2SE 2026) aims to be a high-profile seminar that brings together leading researchers and practitioners from both academia and industry. The program will mainly consist of invited talks by participants and active discussions in smaller groups. All participants are expected to contribute actively, sharing their ideas, experiences, and visions for the role of AI Agents in shaping the future of Software Engineering.
Topics of the seminar include, but are not limited to:
foundations and definitions of AI Agents in Software Engineering
architectures and frameworks for AI-augmented software development
collaboration between humans and AI Agents across the software lifecycle
agent-based approaches to requirements engineering, testing, debugging, and maintenance
quality assurance, trust, and ethics of AI-driven development environments
integration of AI Agents into DevOps pipelines and continuous engineering practices
evaluation frameworks, benchmarks, and empirical studies of AI Agents in practice
opportunities and challenges for industrial adoption of AI Agents in Software Engineering
visions of future developer ecosystems shaped by AI Agents
The seminar will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one week before ICSE 2026. We plan for an intense and productive meeting in a collaborative setting, giving participants the chance to engage deeply with one another and to return home with fresh ideas and new partnerships before the main conference.
The program will balance presentations with interactive sessions, ensuring space for discussion, brainstorming, and joint vision-building. A key outcome of the seminar will be the creation of a collaborative position paper, capturing shared insights, research directions, and challenges. Beyond this, we envision further outcomes such as joint projects, publications, or longer-term collaborations initiated at A2SE 2026.
Day 1 (8th April 2026)
9:00 - 9:30: Opening
9:30 - 11:00: Lightning talks (max 5 min per participant)
11:00 - 11:30: Coffee Break
11:30 - 12:00: Focus group Formation
12:.00 - 13:00: Discussions in Focus Group
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 17:30: Informal discussions
20:00 - Group dinner @ Marius Degustare (self financed) http://www.marius.com.br/en/
Day 2 (9th April 2026)
9:00 - 9:30: Day 1 Briefing and updates
9:30 - 10:30: Focus group discussions
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00: Documentation of discussions
12:00 - 13:00: Feedback and review
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 17:30: Informal discussions
Day 3 (10th April 2026)
9:00 - 10:30: Steering Committee meet
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 - 13:00: Documentation by Steering Committee
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 17:30: Documentation and wrap-up by Steering committee
PUC Rio, Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225, Gávea - Rio de Janeiro
We recommend the participants to stay in Leblon, Ipanema or Copacabana.
Henry Muccini (University of L'Aquila)
Karthik Vaidhyanathan
Davide Taibi (University of Southern Denmark & University of Oulu)