# Seven Rules for Building an AI-Native Software Factory

DevFeed: [Seven Rules for Building an AI-Native Software Factory](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/seven-rules-for-building-an-ai-native-software-factory-19027.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.pulumi.com/blog/seven-rules-ai-native-software-factory/>)

Author: Adam Gordon Bell

Published: 2026-05-21T13:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Pulumi](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/pulumi.md>)

Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [AI Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-development.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>), [Amazon Web Services](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/aws.md>)

Tags: [agentic-ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agentic-ai.md>), [agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agents.md>), [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-agents.md>), [aws](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/aws.md>), [building](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/building.md>), [customers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/customers.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [esc](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/esc.md>), [governance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/governance.md>), [infrastructure-as-code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/infrastructure-as-code.md>), [pulumi-neo](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pulumi-neo.md>), [software-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-development.md>)

## AI overview

Ewan Dawson describes seven rules for building and operating an AI-native software factory, based on Compostable AI's experience. The article argues that organizations should redesign software workflows around autonomous agents, start with a focused team, involve governance and compliance early, and remove risks by changing the problem rather than adding controls.

## Source excerpt

Ewan Dawson is CTO of Compostable AI, where five engineers run an AI-native software factory: nineteen clients, custom AWS deployments, most of them shipped within a day of contract signing. This article is adapted from his recent Pulumi webinar, and covers rules in more depth than we had time for on stage. For the past twenty years, I've viewed software development as a craft. The best engineers drew on decades of experience to get every function right. But two years into the agentic AI revolution, I realised software is going to look more like a factory than a craft. The economics have changed. We can't treat code as bespoke anymore. To scale, we have to think industrial -- use the tools to ship more value with fewer engineers. I joined Compostable AI soon after it was founded 2.5 years ago, and I built the engineering org AI-native from day one. The technology has come a long way since then, and so has my understanding of what AI-native actually means. Here are seven rules I keep coming back to. An AI software factory is a software operation where autonomous agents write and ship most of the code. The engineers stop writing it by hand and spend their time deciding what gets built and talking to customers. The rules below are our rules for building and running an AI-native software factory. 1. Transform, don't enhance Going AI-native isn't an upgrade to your existing process. If you treat AI as a way to hand your developers smarter tools, you leave most of the value on the table. You get the leverage by rebuilding how you write software -- and the culture and processes around it. I know that's a tall order for a large, mature engineering org. My advice: start small. Pick one team or one business area and run it as a fully AI-native function. Take what you learn and roll it out from there. And do the political work early, especially with your Governance, Risk, and Compliance function. Get GRC on your side early. Otherwise AI becomes a compliance fight instead of a st