Gene Kim's Three Ways have guided DevOps thinking for over a decade. But the emergence of AI, particularly Large Language Models and autonomous agents, represents such a fundamental shift that it warrants recognition as a new foundational principle.
This article explores the Fourth Way: a paradigm where AI does not replace humans in the loop, but creates entirely new loops that humans could not run before.
From Three Ways to Four: The Evolution
The original Three Ways established the philosophical foundation of DevOps:
- First Way (Flow): Optimize the whole system from Development to Operations to Customer
- Second Way (Feedback): Amplify feedback loops from Customer back through Operations to Development
- Third Way (Learning): Foster a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement
The Fourth Way (Augmentation) does not replace these principles. It enhances Flow, accelerates Feedback, and amplifies Learning through Human-AI collaboration at every stage.
Why a Fourth Way Now?
The Fourth Way is fundamentally different from previous automation waves. Previous automation executed tasks and followed rules. Fourth Way augmentation participates in design and reasons about context.
The AI-DevOps Capability Stack
Understanding where AI fits in the DevOps landscape requires examining the capability stack that enables intelligent operations.
Capability Layers (Bottom to Top)
- Infrastructure and Platform: Compute, storage, networking, Kubernetes, Terraform
- Data and Observability: Metrics, logs, traces, and events via OpenTelemetry
- Specialized ML Models: Anomaly detection, forecasting, and classification
- Large Language Models: Reasoning and generation: Claude, GPT-4, DeepSeek, Mistral
- Autonomous Agents: Multi-agent systems with orchestration and goal-driven behavior
Agent Autonomy Levels: A Framework
An agent is an AI system that can perceive its environment, reason about goals and actions, take actions, learn from outcomes, and operate with varying degrees of autonomy.
Level 0: Tool
Traditional automation that does exactly what it is told when called. No reasoning, no adaptation.
Level 1: Assistant
Helps humans accomplish tasks but requires explicit direction. Examples: Copilot, ChatGPT.
Level 2: Collaborator
Figures out how to accomplish goals but checks with humans before acting. Examples: Claude with tools, Cursor.
Level 3: Delegate
Executes tasks independently and updates humans on progress. Example: Devin-style autonomous coding.
Level 4: Autonomous
Maintains system health without constant human oversight. Example: Self-healing infrastructure.
Level 5: Proactive
Continuously improves systems without being asked. Self-evolving systems that optimize themselves.
Multi-Agent Patterns
Complex systems benefit from multiple specialized agents working together. Three patterns have emerged as particularly effective:
Pattern 1: The Validator
A two-agent system where a Generator Agent creates code or plans while a Validator Agent checks for correctness, safety, and standards. Execution proceeds only when both agree.
Pattern 2: The Escalation Chain
A tiered system where L1 auto-agents handle simple issues, L2 smart agents handle complex patterns, and L3 humans handle novel situations. Learnings flow back to expand L1 capability.
Pattern 3: The Specialist Committee
Multiple specialist agents (performance, security, cost) evaluate proposals. An orchestrator aggregates input into consensus or escalates to humans.
Self-Healing Infrastructure
Self-healing infrastructure applies the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) with AI at each stage. Not all actions should be automated equally. A graduated approach ensures safety:
Implementation Maturity Model
Organizations can assess their AI-DevOps maturity across six levels:
Level 0: Manual (No AI Integration)
Static thresholds trigger alerts. Manual incident response. Traditional scripted automation only.
Level 1: AI-Assisted Development
Code completion tools adopted. AI assists with code review. Test generation supplements manual testing.
Level 2: AI-Assisted Operations
Anomaly detection replaces static thresholds. LLMs analyze logs. Intelligent alerting reduces noise.
Level 3: Integrated AI-DevOps
End-to-end AI assistance connects phases. Automated RCA accelerates resolution. Predictive capacity planning.
Level 4: Agentic DevOps
Autonomous incident response handles known patterns. Self-healing infrastructure. Multi-agent collaboration.
Level 5: Cognitive DevOps
Proactive system evolution. AI participates in architecture decisions. Self-improving systems optimize continuously.
Quick Wins for Getting Started
The Human-AI Partnership Model
The Fourth Way is not about replacing humans with AI. It is about augmenting human capability with AI partnership.
Together: Capabilities Neither Could Achieve Alone
- AI watches while you sleep
- AI drafts while you think
- AI correlates while you investigate
- AI suggests while you decide
- AI executes while you supervise
- AI learns while you teach
The Fourth Way Manifesto
1. Augmentation over Automation
AI enhances human capability rather than replacing it. The goal is superpowers, not obsolescence.
2. Transparency in AI Action
Every AI action must be logged, explainable, and auditable. Black boxes are not acceptable in production.
3. Graduated Autonomy
Trust is earned through demonstrated reliability. Autonomy expands as confidence grows.
4. Human Authority
Humans retain override capability and final judgment. AI recommends; humans decide on matters of consequence.
5. Continuous Learning Together
Humans train AI on domain knowledge. AI teaches humans by surfacing patterns. Both improve.
6. Safety by Design
Guardrails are architecture, not afterthoughts. Safety must be built in from the foundation.
7. Cognitive Partnership
Leverage the complementary strengths of human and AI cognition. Neither is complete without the other.
The Promise of the Fourth Way
The First Way taught us to optimize Flow
The Second Way taught us to amplify Feedback
The Third Way taught us to embrace Learning
The Fourth Way teaches us to Augment
The goal is not to remove humans from the loop. The goal is to give humans superpowers. This is the Fourth Way.