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Facetune_21-11-2025-11-54-00.HEIC

Kezia Devathasan
PhD Candidate at the University of Victoria, NSERC CGS-D Scholar

Software Engineering Researcher & Educator

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I study human-AI collaboration in software engineering, with a focus on how developers and software teams use AI throughout the process of specifying, designing, building, and evaluating software. My research examines how AI is changing core software engineering activities, including requirements engineering, software design, collaborative development, and software engineering education.

I am particularly interested in how developers assess AI-generated software artefacts, integrate them with stakeholder and system knowledge, and remain accountable for the resulting technical decisions. Drawing on empirical software engineering, organizational behaviour, and psychology,  I develop evidence-based methods and tools that support effective, inclusive, and responsible software development.

Research Interests

I study human-AI collaboration in software engineering, with a focus on how AI is changing the way software is specified, designed, built, and evaluated. Generative AI can produce requirements, code, tests, design recommendations, and documentation that appear polished and technically plausible, but may be incomplete, inconsistent, or simply wrong. My research examines how software teams can identify these failures before they become embedded in a system.

I am particularly interested in how software engineering workflows must adapt as AI-generated artefacts become part of everyday development. Existing practices often assume that artefacts are created by people who can explain their reasoning and be held accountable for their decisions. AI disrupts this assumption. Teams need stronger approaches to review, traceability, verification, and quality assurance so that generated outputs can be connected to stakeholder needs, system constraints, and prior technical decisions.

My work also examines how AI affects decision-making and collaboration within software teams. AI may help developers explore a problem or communicate an idea, but it may also reinforce an early assumption, make weak reasoning appear authoritative, or encourage a team to accept an output without understanding its consequences. Building on my research on perspective-taking, psychological safety, and conflict, I study whether AI helps teams make better technical decisions or simply helps them reach decisions faster.

These questions are especially important in requirements engineering, where business needs are translated into technical commitments. Errors introduced at this stage can shape the entire system and create significant rework later. My research investigates how teams can evaluate AI-generated requirements and designs, expose unsupported assumptions, and preserve the reasoning that connects a software artefact to the problem it is intended to solve.

This work also extends to software engineering education. As students increasingly use AI throughout the development process, they must learn how to assess generated artefacts, justify technical choices, and remain accountable for the systems they build. My goal is to help develop software engineering workflows and learning environments that allow teams and organizations to benefit from AI without weakening technical judgment, software quality, or responsibility.

News & Updates

July 2026 - Our paper, "Strategic Perspective-Taking: Methods to Enhance Teamwork in Software Teams" has been accepted for publication in IEEE Software. 

May 2026 - Our paper, "Diversity’s Role in Collaboration and Conflict: A Case-Study of React.js" has been accepted for publication in Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE). 

October 2025 - Our paper, "Perspective-Taking in Software Engineering: A Study on its Relationship to Team Performance" has been accepted to ICSE 2026 in Rio, Brazil.

September 2025 - I'm excited to serve as a sessional instructor for SENG 321, Requirements Engineering, at the University of Victoria. 

April 2025 - Delighted to receive the NSERC - CDSD award valued at $120,000.

Contact

February 2025 - Our paper, "Empathy, self-determination, and motivation: moderating diversity for enhanced performance in software development teams" has been accepted for publication in Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE).

Contact
Information

keziadevathasan@uvic.ca

University of Victoria

Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science
Department of Computer Science

3800 Finnerty Road

Victoria,  British Columbia

Canada

V8P 5C2

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