ACCELERATING SOFTWARE DELIVERY BY 16X WITH AI-POWERED AGENTS FOR A LEADING UK RETAILER

The initiative accelerated key engineering activities by up to 16x, achieved 7.3x faster cycle times across targeted phases, and enabled the delivery of 59 business complexity points (BCPs) while maintaining release quality.

INTRODUCTION

A leading UK retailer wanted to increase software delivery velocity across its digital product teams without compromising quality, predictability, or release schedules.

Operating with distributed engineering squads responsible for frequent mobile application releases, the organization faced growing pressure to deliver faster while maintaining high standards across the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

To address this challenge, CI&T implemented an AI-powered delivery acceleration strategy powered by CI&T Flow, introducing specialized AI agents to support teams throughout the development process—from requirements refinement to coding and code review.

THE CHALLENGE: DELIVERY BOTTLENECKS AT SCALE

As delivery demands grew, lengthy development cycles, inconsistent backlog quality, and limited team capacity made it increasingly difficult to accelerate software delivery.

Lengthy Development Cycles

Critical activities such as backlog refinement, software development, and pull request reviews required significant manual effort, slowing down delivery and reducing overall team efficiency.

Inconsistent Backlog Readiness

Requirements and user stories often varied in quality and level of detail, creating challenges for planning, estimation, and execution across teams.

Scaling Productivity Without Scaling Teams

The organization needed to improve throughput and delivery performance without significantly increasing team size or introducing major process changes.

THE SOLUTION

CI&T introduced a practical AI-driven approach designed to enhance existing workflows rather than replace them.

Powered by Flow, pecialized AI agents were embedded into key stages of the software delivery lifecycle, helping teams work faster and more consistently.

Faster and More Structured Refinement

A Business Refinement Agent helped transform business requirements into well-structured user stories, improving backlog quality and reducing the time spent preparing work for development.

This enabled teams to start implementation with clearer requirements and better alignment.

AI-Assisted Development and Code Review

Development and Code Review Agents supported engineers throughout implementation and pull request review activities, helping reduce repetitive tasks and accelerate delivery cycles.

By integrating AI directly into day-to-day workflows, teams were able to spend more time focusing on complex problem-solving and value creation.

Automated Backlog Breakdown and Estimation Support

The solution also helped teams break down large backlog items into smaller, actionable work packages while supporting sizing and planning activities.

This improved visibility, prioritization, and execution across the delivery pipeline.

THE IMPACT

The initiative delivered measurable improvements across several stages of the software development lifecycle.

KEY OUTCOMES

7.3x

faster cycle times across targeted delivery phases

16x

improvement in refinement cycle time

3.1x

improvement in development cycle time

4.2x

improvement in pull request review cycle time

TEAM ADOPTION

100% of planned developers trained and enabled on the new AI-assisted approach

Successful adoption of AI-powered workflows across engineering teams

Increased consistency in backlog preparation and development practices

DELIVERY PERFORMANCE

Delivery of nearly all planned Business Capability Points (BCPs)

Improved efficiency across multiple engineering activities

Reduced manual effort throughout the development lifecycle

TECHNOLOGIES USED

POWERED
BY FLOW

CI&T FLOW Enterprise AI Management System designed to enhance software delivery by integrating intelligent agents into engineering workflows. The platform helps teams streamline planning, development, review, and operational activities while improving productivity, quality, and delivery efficiency.

SPECIALIZED
AI AGENTS

Purpose-built AI agents designed to support specific stages of the software development lifecycle, including business refinement, development, code review, bug resolution, and requirements management.

WORKFLOW AUTOMATION

Automation capabilities that help teams structure requirements, break down complex work items, support estimation processes, and reduce repetitive manual activities across the delivery lifecycle.