What we're talking about when we talk about context engineering

Everyone seems to be talking about context engineering. That was certainly the case in our recent discussions for the upcoming edition of the Technology Radar (volume 33, due early November 2025). And although we ran into the term on the Technology Podcast just a few weeks ago, we thought it would be useful to try and tackle exactly what people are talking about when they talk about context engineering. We know context is important when it comes to AI, but what does it mean to engineer it?

On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host and Thoughtworks CTO Rachel Laycock is joined by Thoughtworkers Alessio Ferri (Lead Software Engineer) and Bharani Subramaniam (CTO for India and the Middle East) to discuss what context engineering is, how it's being done and what it tells us about the evolution of AI. This certainly won't be the last word — ours or anyone else's — on context engineering, but it might help clarify and cement your understanding as the term comes to dominate technology conversations.