Training course · Cursor · Tech Leads & Engineering Managers

Cursor for Tech Leads and Engineering Managers

Work productively with the AI code editor Cursor: agent mode, rules, codebase context, Tab completion, background agents and review.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Cursor for Tech Leads and Engineering Managers” is a hands-on course for roles such as Tech leads and lead developers, Engineering managers and software team leads and Heads of engineering and CTOs in mid-sized companies. Rather than learning Cursor in the abstract, you work on tasks from your daily routine – with examples, exercises and templates from Tech Leads & Engineering Managers.

Cursor is an AI code editor built on VS Code that weaves language models deeply into everyday development. Alongside context-aware Tab completion, it offers an agent mode that searches files on its own, plans changes across the whole project, runs terminal commands and fixes errors iteratively. In this two-day course you will learn to use Cursor with purpose: choosing the right interaction mode, steering context deliberately and combining AI assistance with your existing workflow of version control, automated testing and peer code review.

A key focus is making Cursor work for teams. Project rules let you capture architectural decisions, naming conventions and testing strategies so that the agent produces consistent results. You will learn to make good use of codebase indexing, targeted references to files, documentation and symbols, and MCP integrations. You will also delegate tasks to background agents, review their output as pull requests and set up a review process that takes quality, security and data protection seriously across the organisation.

AI coding assistants and autonomous agents are changing how engineering teams work: tasks are sliced differently, effort shifts from writing code to reviewing it, and deciding which work can be delegated to agents becomes a leadership responsibility. Tech leads and engineering managers have to select tools, set policies, enable their teams and measure impact without losing sight of code quality, security and the growth of junior engineers. In this course you learn to plan the rollout of AI coding tools in a structured way, establish shared working practices and rule files for your team, choose meaningful metrics beyond raw speed and apply AI to leadership tasks such as planning, onboarding and technical communication. Deep programming skills are not required.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Tech leads and lead developers
  • Engineering managers and software team leads
  • Heads of engineering and CTOs in mid-sized companies
  • Delivery and project leads in IT organisations
  • Developer experience and enablement leads

Typical challenges we address

  • Unclear policies lead to a patchwork of tools and shadow AI within the team
  • More generated code increases review load and the risk of technical debt
  • Difficulty measuring the real benefit of AI tools in a credible way
  • Concerns about junior engineers’ skill development and team buy-in

What you will be able to do

  • You choose the right Cursor mode for each task and use it efficiently.
  • You steer codebase context precisely and get more accurate suggestions as a result.
  • You write project rules that reliably enforce your team’s conventions.
  • You use agent mode and background agents for features and refactorings with verifiable results.
  • Plan the rollout of AI coding tools in a structured way with clear policies, roles and guardrails.
  • Measure the impact on delivery, quality and satisfaction with credible metrics.
  • Use AI agents yourself for leadership tasks such as planning, onboarding and technical communication.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Setting up Cursor and understanding its modes
  • Installation and migration of VS Code settings and extensions
  • Differences between Tab completion, inline edits, Ask mode and Agent mode
  • Choosing a model per task: balancing speed, depth and cost
  • Privacy mode and organisation-level settings
Module 2 Steering codebase context
  • How codebase indexing works and where its limits lie
  • Referencing files, folders, symbols, documentation and web sources precisely
  • Using ignore files to exclude sensitive or irrelevant content
  • Avoiding overlong chats and restarting tasks with fresh context
Module 3 Rules for consistent team results
  • Creating and versioning project rules and scoping them by file pattern
  • Expressing architecture, style and testing conventions as effective rules
  • Separating user rules from team rules
  • Refining rules iteratively based on the agent’s typical mistakes
Module 4 Agent mode in practice
  • Building features step by step with plan, implementation and tests
  • Running multi-file refactorings safely with checkpoints
  • Approving terminal commands deliberately and feeding error output back
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or browser testing

Day 2

Module 5 Background agents, review and governance
  • Delegating tasks to background agents and running them in parallel
  • Reviewing results as branches or pull requests and steering follow-ups
  • Using AI-assisted code review alongside human review
  • Addressing security risks, secrets and licensing in enterprise use
Module 6 Practice lab: Tech Leads & Engineering Managers
  • Writing a team AI policy
  • Rule files and team conventions
  • Measuring impact
  • Slicing work for agents
  • Faster onboarding
  • Technical communication
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • As a leader you own the legal framework: you learn to address licensing and copyright questions around generated code, protection of source code and secrets, works council co-determination rights when measuring performance and obligations under the GDPR and the EU AI Act in your team policies.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Writing a team AI policy

Draft a practical guideline that clearly defines approved tools, permitted data classes, review obligations for generated code, handling of secrets and accountabilities, illustrated with concrete examples.

Rule files and team conventions

Build shared context files for coding agents covering architectural principles, testing strategy, style rules and banned patterns, keep them under version control and ensure consistent output across the team.

Measuring impact

Collect metrics such as DORA measures, pull request cycle time, change failure rate and developer satisfaction before and after rollout, and prepare the analysis with AI support.

Slicing work for agents

Write and break down backlog items so they can be delegated to agents with clear acceptance criteria, and decide which tasks deliberately stay with people.

Faster onboarding

Prepare codebases, architecture decisions and operational knowledge for new team members, create guided exploration tasks and have questions about the codebase answered with source references.

Technical communication

Draft incident post-mortems, roadmap updates, decision papers for senior management and release notes from tickets and commits, structured and tailored to each audience. This frees up time for actual leadership.

Possible hands-on projects

Team metrics dashboard

A small web app that pulls data from your Git platform and shows cycle times, review duration and deployment frequency over time.

PR summariser

A bot that collects all merged pull requests each week and turns them into a readable status report for stakeholders.

Onboarding guide generator

A script that analyses repository structure, README files and ADRs and produces a structured onboarding plan with learning tasks. It adapts to role and seniority.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and an IDE such as VS Code. You lead a software team, either technically or as a line manager, and understand the development process; current hands-on coding is helpful but not required.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with Cursor, Git and your usual development environment installed; a Cursor account with access to agent features is recommended.

Data protection & compliance

As a leader you own the legal framework: you learn to address licensing and copyright questions around generated code, protection of source code and secrets, works council co-determination rights when measuring performance and obligations under the GDPR and the EU AI Act in your team policies.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 – Wed, 25 November 2026 Online Request
  • Wed, 2 December 2026 – Thu, 3 December 2026 Hanover Request
  • Wed, 16 December 2026 – Thu, 17 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 21 January 2027 – Fri, 22 January 2027 Munich Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 1 February 2027 – Tue, 2 February 2027 Stuttgart Request

Frequently asked questions

Do I need prior VS Code experience to use Cursor?

It helps, but it is not essential. Cursor is built on VS Code, so navigation, shortcuts and extensions feel familiar and existing settings can be imported. If you currently work with JetBrains IDEs or other editors, a short introduction during the course gets you up to speed quickly so you can concentrate on the AI features.

How do I prevent confidential code from reaching third parties?

Cursor offers a privacy mode and organisation settings that restrict how code is stored by the provider. You can also use ignore files to exclude sensitive areas from indexing and context. In the course we discuss how to align these options with internal policies, data protection requirements and sound handling of secrets.

What do rules add compared with well-written prompts?

A prompt applies to one request only, whereas rules persist and apply to the whole team. They capture architectural decisions, preferred libraries, testing strategies and style guidelines, so nobody has to repeat that information and the agent produces code that fits your codebase. Rules are versioned with the project and evolve together with it.

How do we tell whether AI coding tools are worth it?

Don’t count generated lines of code; look at outcomes: lead time from idea to production, change failure rate, review effort, defect rates and team satisfaction. A baseline before rollout and accompanying qualitative surveys are essential. In the course you design a lean measurement approach that fits your organisation and involves employee representatives.

Do junior engineers still learn enough when AI writes the code?

The concern is valid and can be managed. Proven practices include having engineers explain every generated section in review, deliberate practice phases without an assistant and pairing with experienced colleagues where AI acts as a learning partner. You learn to adapt learning paths and review culture so that skill building and productivity go hand in hand.

How much does “Cursor for Tech Leads and Engineering Managers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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