Thomas Zimmermann

Empowering Software Developers

Thomas Zimmermann works on cutting-edge research in software engineering, data science and machine learning. “I focus on developer productivity and experience, basically looking at how we can make software engineering more efficient,” says Zimmermann, who spent 16 years as a researcher for Microsoft, contributing to tools such as Visual Studio, GitHub, Copilot and Xbox.

Measuring Productivity

Professor Zimmermann explores ways to improve the productivity of software developers, inspired in part by the concept of a Fitbit device. “Fitbit collects data to encourage healthier habits,” he explains. “So I thought, ‘what if we create a ‘Fitbit’ for software engineers?’” While at Microsoft, he helped develop the SPACE framework, now widely used in industry. The framework allows people to think about not just one measurement but five different dimensions of productivity: satisfaction and wellbeing, performance, activity, communication and collaboration, and efficiency and flow. These dimensions are considered across multiple perspectives: the individual developer, the team and the company. “Once you have an idea of how your engineers work, you can establish policies that remove barriers to productivity,” he says. “This involves investing in tools for collaboration and creativity.”

Building AI-Powered Software

Professor Zimmermann is also exploring ways to build AI-powered software systems, also called AIware. “AI is such a big opportunity for software development,” he says. “How can we use AI to make software engineers more productive? How can we create software systems that use AI in a responsible way?” His research in this direction looks at the issue of trust in adopting AI to create higher quality software more efficiently. He expects future AI-powered software to look very different: “In ten years, AI will write software we can’t even imagine today.”