SCS Faculty Candidate Seminar: Courtney Miller

Talk Title: Navigating Sociotechnical Disruptions in Software Engineering 

Speaker:  Courtney Miller, Ph.D. Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University 

Abstract: 

Software development is shaped by constant disruption—from open-source dependency abandonment to generative AI (GenAI) tools fundamentally reshaping how code is written. 
 
In this talk, I'll present two lines of work, each examining a different disruption. First, I'll share my work on the disruption of open source dependency abandonment, revealing the unsupported challenges developers face when identifying and responding to abandonment, identifying factors that support successful downstream response, and demonstrating how theory-driven LLM-based systems can make those risks more visible. Second, I’ll present findings from my recent collaboration with Microsoft Research about the disruption of GenAI adoption on development teams, demonstrating why adoption succeeds for some developers but stalls for others in seemingly similar contexts, showing the amplification effect organizational support mechanisms can have, and introducing the Productivity Pressure Paradox: a dynamic where increased productivity expectations without corresponding support can actually prevent developers from building the skills that would deliver those gains. 
 
Finally, I’ll outline my research vision for helping developers anticipate and navigate the disruptions of tomorrow—from building AI-powered tools for software supply chain resilience to studying how GenAI is reshaping development team practices and processes. 

Bio:

Courtney Miller is a Software Engineering Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, co-advised by Bogdan Vasilescu and Christian Kästner. Her research examines how developers navigate technological disruptions—from dependency abandonment threatening open source software supply chain sustainability and security to generative AI adoption reshaping development workflows. 
 
Her empirical approach combines human-centered qualitative techniques with large-scale data-driven analysis, modeling, and visualization to inform the development of theoretically-grounded insights and practice-driven tooling solutions. As part of the Secure Software Supply Chain Center (S3C2), her work has informed security practices through contributions to federal agency and industry supply chain security summits. 
 
Courtney has earned three ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards at the International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. She has conducted two research internships at Microsoft Research. She holds a B.A. with honors in Computer Science and Statistics from New College of Florida. In her free time, she enjoys indoor cycling and leisurely walks with her 14-year-old toy poodle Chanel.