Toward Agentic Software Project Management: A Vision and Roadmap
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Software engineering coding agents
Abstract (arXiv)
With the advent of agentic AI, Software Engineering is transforming to a new era dubbed Software Engineering 3.0. Software project management (SPM) must also evolve with such transformations to boost successful project completion, while keeping humans at the heart of it. Building on our preliminary ideas of "agentic SPM", and supporting literature, we present our vision of an "Agentic Project Manager (PM)" as a multi-agent system for SPM 3.0. They will work like a "junior project manager", or an "intern project manager" collaboratively with software teams. We introduce four working modes, with varying autonomy levels to choose from, based on the SPM task. This addresses concerns with ethics, accountability, and trust related to agentic PMs. We also share insights on human PM role evolution and new skill requirements as a "strategic leader" and a "coach" for humans and agents. While creating the foundation for agentic SPM research, we present a research agenda for the wider research community.
Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 13 Oct 2026). Placed in Software engineering coding agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 12 of its 38 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 23 Jan 2026.
Builds on
12 of 38 references.
Closest ancestors · 5
Same direction, newest first
- 2025Toward Agentic Software Engineering Beyond Code: Framing Vision, Values, and Vocabulary22 Oct
- 2025An LLM-based multi-agent framework for agile effort estimation17 Sep
- 2025Agentic Software Engineering: Foundational Pillars and a Research Roadmap7 Sep
- 2025Cognitive Agents Powered by Large Language Models for Agile Software Project Management21 Aug
- 2024Building Living Software Systems with Generative & Agentic AI3 Aug
Other references · 7
- 2023Large Language Models for Software Engineering: A Systematic Literature Reviewcited by 395
- 2025AI Agents vs. Agentic AI: A Conceptual Taxonomy, Applications and Challengescited by 168
- 2025Levels of Autonomy for AI Agentscited by 46
- 2018Towards effective AI-powered agile project managementcited by 3
- 2025The Role of Empathy in Software Engineering -- A Socio-Technical Grounded Theorycited by 2
- 2025Generative AI for Software Project Management: Insights from a Review of Software Practitioner Literaturecited by 2
- 2021The Emotional Roller Coaster of Responding to Requirements Changes in Software Engineeringcited by 1
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Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
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- 2026A Research Agenda on Agents and Software Engineering: Outcomes from the Rio A2SE Seminar
- 2026Agentic Software: How AI Agents Are Restructuring the Software Paradigm
- 2025From Correctness to Collaboration: Toward a Human-Centered Framework for Evaluating AI Agent Behavior in Software Engineering
- 2026Agentic Business Process Management: A Research Manifesto
- 2026Human-AI Collaboration and the Transformation of Software Engineering Work