FLDSSG hDim Podcast

Webinar Series

When Code Writes Itself: Bridging The Gap Between Software Design, Computing Education, and AI-generated Code

Software engineering is at a crossroads. While AI drastically increases raw code throughput at the implementation layer, the core challenges of system architecture, long-term maintainability, and product reasoning remain deeply human. This special panel sequence explores how to leverage AI’s efficiency without eroding software engineering’s core principles and intellectual rigor.

Broadcast Date: April 16, 2026 Run Time: 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM (EST) via Zoom

Moderators:

Dr. Karthikeyan Umapathy
Professor and Co-Director of FL-DSSG, University of North Florida
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Dr. Nan Niu
RF-SMART and Morales Family Professor and School of Computing Director, University of North Florida
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Expert Panel Members:

Nathan Enright
Senior Cloud Solution Architect, NLP Logix
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Zack England
Enterprise Software Architect, WellSky

Danny Logsdon
CEO, HoloModular & Author of ServiceBricks
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Rahul Pandita
Automated Software Engineering Researcher, GitHub Next
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Mike Potts
CEO & Founder, feature[23]
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Michael Privat
Chief Data & Engineering Officer, Availity
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David Provan
Vice President - Digital Architecture, PGA Tour
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Episode 16: When AI Writes the Code: Panel Reflections and Future Horizons

The series closes with high-level advice on navigating the modern tech ecosystem. The panel challenges engineers to filter out public hype, lean directly into empirical experimentation, and treat automation as a liberating tool that frees up human intellect to focus entirely on the "why" behind the software.

In this episode, panel members share their final reflections and closing thoughts for this webinar series, answering the ultimate question:
How do we leverage AI and CodeGen tools’ efficiency at the implementation layer while preserving the core principles, system architecture, and intellectual rigor of human software engineering?

April 16, 2026 00:07:04 Watch Episode 16 on YouTube

Episode 15: When AI Writes the Code: Research, Tools, and Curriculum

This episode addresses how academic circles and tool-builders must pivot to reinforce software safety. The group debates the promise of design-aware IDEs and discusses restructuring university courses to prepare students to direct AI "teams" rather than manually configuring individual code scripts.

In this episode, panel members discuss the fifth question of this webinar:
What Research Directions, Emerging Tools, and Changes to Academic Curricula look most Promising for Closing the Gap between raw Code Generation and True Support for Software Design?

April 16, 2026 00:05:22 Watch Episode 15 on YouTube

Episode 14: When AI Writes the Code: Processes and Organizational Design

To transform AI into a force multiplier rather than an echo chamber for anti-patterns, corporate engineering protocols must shift. The panel introduces a "comprehension-first" bar for pull requests, suggesting that code reviews fail unless an engineer can fully articulate the choices made by an autonomous agent.

In this episode, panel members discuss the fourth question of this webinar:
What changes to processes—code review, architecture practices, ownership boundaries—are necessary so that AI becomes a force multiplier for good design rather than an amplifier of bad patterns?

April 16, 2026 00:21:38 Watch Episode 14 on YouTube

Episode 13: When AI Writes the Code: Students, New Grads, and Design Skills

With basic coding syntax increasingly democratized, the panel maps out the survival toolkit for next-generation developers. The experts explain why deep domain fluency, a healthy skepticism of system designs, and clear technical communication will heavily prioritize a candidate over standard prompting skills.

In this episode, panel members discuss the third question of this webinar:
For Students and New Graduates, What Capabilities Beyond ‘Prompting an AI Assistant’ will Actually Differentiate Them—Especially in Understanding Problem Domains, Designing Systems, and Collaborating with more Experienced Engineers?

April 16, 2026 00:23:33 Watch Episode 13 on YouTube Read Episode 13 Insights

Episode 12: When AI Writes the Code: Quality and long-term cost

This session tackles the systemic impact of generative code on architectural life cycles and financial frameworks. The experts unpack the rise of "cognitive debt", where micro-optimized outputs outpace human mental bandwidth, and outline the corporate trade-offs between public cloud API tokens and local, open-source models.

In this episode, panel members discuss the second question of this webinar:
How does heavy reliance on AI-generated Code change Software Quality, Maintainability, and Technical Debt over the Life of a System, not just in the First Release?

April 16, 2026 00:14:20 Watch Episode 12 on YouTube Read Episode 12 Insights

Episode 11: When AI Writes the Code: Where AI actually helps

The panel evaluates the practical boundaries of today’s generative tools across the software development lifecycle. Discussions highlight AI’s strength in clearing the "blank page hurdle" through scaffolding and boilerplate generation, contrasted against its total inability to decode ambiguous human requirements.

In this episode, panel members discuss the first question of this webinar:
Along the path from Problem Definition to Architecture to Implementation, where do today’s Code Generation Tools genuinely help, and where do they clearly Fall Short?

April 16, 2026 00:12:52 Watch Episode 11 on YouTube Read Episode 11 Insights

Episode 10: When AI Writes the Code: Expert Panel Introductions

This premiere installment establishes the foundational thesis of the webinar series. The moderators introduce the industry panel to outline the modern paradox of AI-augmented engineering: handling unprecedented code throughput while safeguarding strategic, human-centric design pillars.

April 16, 2026 00:13:42 Watch Episode 10 on YouTube

Episode 9: Mentoring and Supporting Nonprofits on Data Science Projects

Guest: Katie Bakewell, Data Science Solutions Architect, NLP Logix, Jacksonville, FL

Leaders in data science and artificial intelligence modeling not only advance the field with their innovative approaches, but many also serve as mentors to a growing number of emerging data science interns. In this episode, we will discuss the role of mentoring in the data science field. Specifically, we will explore how mentoring around non-profit data science projects support the growth and development of emerging data scientists as well as the advancement of data science within non-profit organizations. Katie Bakewell has served as a mentor for data science interns for over 5 years. We will discuss how the field of data science for social good is changing and how those interested in data science careers can receive mentoring and advice from those working in the industry.

July 18, 2024 00:43:00 Watch Episode 9 on YouTube

Episode 8: DSSG Internships Help Prepare for Data Science Leadership

Guests: Abhishek Singh, Data Engineer at Kohl’s, Fort Lauderdale, FL; and YuanYuan Yang, Ph.D. Student at Washington University in St. Louis, MO

Students who receive training in real-world projects gain understanding and skills that help prepare them for success after graduation. Community-based data science projects provide complexity and meaning, which help data scientists appreciate complex patterns in data and communicate ideas to broad audiences. In this episode of hDim, we will follow up with students who have completed Data Science for Social Good internships. Abhishek Singh and YuanYuan Yang will help us understand the hidden dimensions of data science for social good internships and how they provided unique perspectives on leadership in their current positions and in the field.

July 12, 2024 00:45:14 Watch Episode 8 on YouTube

Episode 7: PGA TOUR Innovative Uses of Data Science and AI Solutions

Guests: Mike Vitti, Senior Vice President, Data & Decision Sciences, and Jacqueline Shelly, Statistician, PGA TOUR, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Sports have always been associated with data and statistics, from batting averages to detailed historical win-loss records. Contemporary data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods have birthed new approaches to sports analytics. Data about athletes both before and after recruitment have expanded and data about how to enhance the experience for fans continues to grow in number and sophistication. In this episode of Dim, we will discuss with Mike Vitti and Jacqueline Shelly of the PGA TOUR about the demand for and the elegant use of data analytics in sports. We will discover the hidden dimensions of simplicity among complexity in working with athlete and marketing data.

June 28, 2024 00:49:44 Watch Episode 7 on YouTube

Episode 6: Partnering around Data on Arts Education in K-12 Schools

Guest: Lucy Chen, Vice President of Advocacy & Community Engagement, Cathedral Arts Project, Jacksonville, FL

In this episode, we will see how hidden dimensions in school arts data can reveal important patterns to improve arts programs over time. Lucy Chen from the Cathedral Arts Project will update us on the efforts to assess, qualify, and improve arts programming in the Northeast Florida region. This initiative is part of a broader Collective Impact program that seeks to see lasting positive change in our communities through civic action and collaboration.

June 20, 2024 00:29:26 Watch Episode 6 on YouTube

Episode 5: Interdisciplinary Data Science Programs Impacts on Student Career Path

Guest: Sri Ram Sripada, Master of Science in Business Analytics and Information Systems graduate, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

In this episode, we discuss the education and career paths of data science for social good student interns. We also explore their hopes for future work in the field. The discussion includes integrating social good into career, working as an interdisciplinary team, and memorable moments from applied data science career.

June 14, 2024 00:31:39 Watch Episode 5 on YouTube

Episode 4: NLP Logix, Leading Change in AI and Data Science Fields

Guests: Ted Willich, Co-Founder and CEO, and Matt Berseth, Co-Founder and CIO, NLP Logix, Jacksonville, FL

In this episode, we will discuss with leaders of one of the top AI and data science companies in the U.S., NLP Logix. Ted Willich and Matt Berseth, Co-founders and principals of NLP Logix have been involved on the advancing edge of this field since the company’s founding in 2011. They have maintained a commitment to helping community organizations in their data-driven transformations. We discuss the collaborative nature of the data science field and how we can help organizations grow and thrive as they access the AI revolution.

May 31, 2024 00:39:35 Watch Episode 4 on YouTube

Episode 3: Interdisciplinary DSSG as a Career Path in Data Science

Guests: Patrick Harrell, Psychology Graduate and Aishwarya Pawar, Data Science Gradaute, University of North Florida

In this episode, we discuss the education and career paths of emerging data science for social good student interns. We also explore their hopes for future work in the field. We discuss when did they start integrating social good into career, what perspectives had to shift working as an interdisciplinary team, and what were some memorable moments from working on data science projects.

March 12, 2024 00:37:19 Watch Episode 3 on YouTube

Episode 2: Community-Engaged Data Science and Success after Graduation

Guest: Brian Ferdman, Data Scientist & Senior Financial Analyst, CSX, Jacksonville, FL

Community-engaged projects provide complexity and meaningful problems, which help data scientists appreciate complex patterns in data and communicate ideas to broad audiences. In this episode of hDim podcast, we follow up with one of the FL-DSSG 2022 alumni, Brian Ferdman. Brian help us understand the hidden dimensions of data science for social good internships and how they provided unique perspectives in data science positions.

March 1, 2024 00:24:55 Watch Episode 2 on YouTube

Episode 1: hDim Podcast Introduction

Guests: Drs. Dan Richard and Karthikeyan Umapathy

In this episode, the hosts discuss what is the hDim podcast and why they started the initiative. FL-DSSG Co-Directors discuss how they got involved in data science work and how they integrated social good into their teaching and research. They discuss why they started the FL-DSSG program and some of their most memorable moments from past years in the program.

February 16, 2024 00:33:11 Watch Episode 1 on YouTube

hDim: Hidden Dimensions Podcast

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