Our paper “Preparing Students for AI-Driven Agile Development: A Project-Based AI Engineering Curriculum” has been accepted at XP 2026

The paper “Preparing Students for AI-Driven Agile Development: A Project-Based AI Engineering Curriculum” by Andreas Rausch, Stefan Wittek, Tobias Geger and David Inkermann has been accepted at XP 2026, the 27^th International Conference on Agile Software Development. 

XP is the premier conference on agile software development, uniquely combining research and practice. It’s where researchers, practitioners, thought leaders, coaches, and trainers come together to share their latest innovations and insights.

Originally launched 26 years ago with a focus on eXtreme Programming, the XP conference has evolved to embrace all modern agile approaches and the broadening dimensions of agility. XP 2026 will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, from April 8 – 11, 2026.

Generative AI and agentic tools are reshaping agile software development, yet many engineering curricula still teach agile methods and AI competencies separately and largely lecture-based. This paper presents a project-based AI Engineering curriculum designed to prepare students for AI-driven agile development by integrating agile practices and AI-enabled engineering throughout the program. We contribute (1) the curriculum concept and guiding principles, (2) a case study of interdisciplinary, AI-enabled agile student projects, and (3) early evidence from a mixed-methods evaluation. In our case study, second-semester bachelor students work in teams over seven two-week sprints on a realistic software product. AI tools are embedded into everyday agile engineering tasks - requirements clarification, backlog refinement, architectural reasoning, coding support, testing, and documentation - paired with reflection on human responsibility and quality. Initial results indicate that the integrated approach supports hands-on competence development in AI-assisted engineering. Key observations highlight the need for agile teaching adaptations due to rapid tool evolution, the critical role of oral verification to ensure foundational learning. We close with lessons learned and recommendations for educators designing agile project-based curricula in the age of AI.

The full paper can be read at https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.09599