The Semi-Executable Stack: Agentic Software Engineering and the Expanding Scope of SE

arXiv:2604.15468v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: AI-based systems, currently driven largely by LLMs and tool-using agentic harnesses, are increasingly discussed as a possible threat to software engineering. Foundation models get stronger, agents can plan and act across multiple steps, and tasks such as scaffolding, routine test generation, straightforward bug fixing, and small integration work look more exposed than they did only a few years ago. The result is visible unease not only among stud