Lunch Bite Nov 2026: RSEs in the Age of GenAI – Challenges, Opportunities, Requirements
by Stephan Druskat (TU Braunschweig)
Generative AI and agentic tools (GenAI) are dramatically changing research software practice. Researchers can now generate their research code more easily with less programming and software engineering experience. Anecdotal evidence suggests that researchers’ collaborations with RSEs now focus on more complex or higher-level software engineering tasks such as code review.
These changes bring uncertainty: Will the RSE role be reduced to reviewing and refactoring AI-generated codebases, or combining prompt engineering and configuring agentic workflows? How can we assert the value of RSEs to our institutions, funders, and collaborators in the future? Will agentic systems replace RSEs and RSE groups?
Program
In a short talk, Stephan Druskat will present a vision for the future of the RSE role and its value proposition, developed at a recent ReSA workshop (https://www.researchsoft.org/events/rse-ai-workshop/): While the RSE role will change with GenAI, its value remains because of RSEs’ unique insight into the interplay between research methods and software engineering. A discussion following the talk will highlight the specific challenges, opportunities and requirements for RSEs in the engineering sciences, in the “Age of GenAI”.
The session consists of a 15-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute Q&A and discussion.
Registration
You can register in the form below.
Further Information
About NFDI4ING Lunch Bites
NFDI4ING Lunch Bites is a monthly online series featuring short presentations and discussions on Research Data Management in engineering. Each session consists of a 15-minute talk and a 15-minute Q&A, offering practical insights into research projects, workflows, tools, and services from the engineering community. The series takes place on the first Wednesday of every month.
More information on our Lunch Bites can be found here.
Registration form