  We propose a quantum Otto cycle in a two spin-$1/2$ anisotropic XY model in a
transverse external magnetic field. We first characterize the parameter regime
that the working medium operates as an engine in the adiabatic regime. Then, we
consider finite-time behavior of the engine with and without utilizing a
shortcut to adiabaticity (STA) technique. STA schemes guarantee that the
dynamics of a system follows the adiabatic path, at the expense of introducing
an external control. We compare the performance of the non-adiabatic and STA
engines for a fixed adiabatic efficiency but different parameters of the
working medium. We observe that, for certain parameter regimes, the
irreversibility, as measured by the efficiency lags, due to finite-time driving
is so low that non-adiabatic engine performs quite close to the adiabatic
engine, leaving the STA engine only marginally better than the non-adiabatic
one. This suggests that by designing the working medium Hamiltonian one may
spare the difficulty of dealing with an external control protocol.
