Jon Udell challenged the conventional "human in the loop" terminology on June 28, 2026, arguing that the phrase inappropriately cedes human authority to machines. Instead, he proposed flipping the narrative to prioritize human-led processes where AI agents are recruited to join established workflows. Udell emphasized that agent-assisted development should avoid becoming an opaque black box that simply emits features, advocating for a model where developers maintain control by inviting agents into their existing loops.

The commentary addressed specific pain points in modern software development, noting that agents frequently generate unreviewable pull requests. Udell suggested that teams simply avoid such practices to maintain oversight. This perspective aims to redefine agentic engineering, shifting the role of AI from a dominant automated system to a collaborative team member.

Jon Udell challenged the conventional "human in the loop" terminology on June 28, 2026, arguing that the phrase inappropriately cedes human authority to machines. Instead, he proposed flipping the narrative to prioritize human-led processes where AI agents are recruited to join established workflows. Udell emphasized that agent-assisted development should avoid becoming an opaque black box that simply emits features, advocating for a model where developers maintain control by inviting agents into their existing loops.

The commentary addressed specific pain points in modern software development, noting that agents frequently generate unreviewable pull requests. Udell suggested that teams simply avoid such practices to maintain oversight. This perspective aims to redefine agentic engineering, shifting the role of AI from a dominant automated system to a collaborative team member.