From Frustration to Flow: When AI Becomes Your Partner, Not Your Opponent
Are you tired of the AI hype too? Of chatbots that keep getting it wrong, and all the talk about robots taking our jobs?
Have you tried GitHub Copilot and thought:
"It’s just glorified autocomplete — and it makes mistakes!"
And in a busy workday filled with deadlines and bugs to fix, who has time to “play around” with a tool that feels slower than just coding it yourself?
But what if the issue isn’t the tool — but how we use it?
What if the skills we already have as experienced developers are exactly what’s needed to turn frustration into flow?
Thomas Kure Thorngreen, Senior Software Engineer at Danfoss Drives, has spent the past year on that very journey. From his first frustrating experiments with ChatGPT in Python side projects (August 2024) to today, where GitHub Copilot is a fully integrated part of his daily workflow — from protocol debugging on embedded systems to building complete project management tools.
With a background spanning from C development in the 90s to modern C++ in large embedded systems, Thomas has seen firsthand how AI is reshaping what’s possible.
This evening isn’t about selling a product or painting an unrealistic picture. It’s about sharing a discovery:
That AI tools, when guided effectively, don’t just suggest code — they extend your capabilities as a developer. Suddenly, lab engineers with domain expertise can build their own tools. Complex problems can be tackled in new ways. And the curiosity that once drew us into this field can be reignited.
Just like learning to drive a manual car: it’s frustrating at first. You don’t go faster than on a bicycle. But when it clicks — and it does — new possibilities open up.
You’ll see real examples of features built with AI, live demonstrations of GitHub Copilot’s capabilities, and deep dives into advanced topics like MCP servers and agentic development. We’ll discuss how to get started without derailing your project timeline, how to avoid common pitfalls, and what this shift means for our future as software developers.
Leave with an honest, nuanced understanding of what AI can and cannot do — and maybe a spark of curiosity to give it another try, this time with fresh eyes.
Speaker: Thomas Kure Thorngreen, Senior Software Engineer, Danfoss Drives
Sandwiches will be served, if you have special dietary needs then you can order a chicken or vegetarian sandwich by sending an email to Krzysztof (krzys@mmmi.sdu.dk)
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