Spec-Driven Development
Field reports from running a product team where AI agents build from my specs
Spec-driven development (SDD) is the practice of writing a specification so detailed, unambiguous, and complete that an AI coding agent can implement it with zero human clarification. I run a product team built entirely on this idea: I write the specs, agents write the software, and a human still reviews every merge. The essays below are field reports from that work, in reading order, with the caveats left in. The six operating principles underneath the practice are on the expertise page.
The Skills You Didn't See Coming
Spec-driven development is a real, teachable skill, and almost nobody starts with all of it. A map of the four skills it rewards, who sits where, and how any role grows into the work.
Work Part 2One of My Teams Has No Engineers
I manage four product teams. Three are conventional. The fourth has no engineers: I write the specs and artificial intelligence agents build the software, with a human still reviewing every merge. A field report on what spec-driven development actually changes about the product job.
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Building With These Ideas
I am building North Bound, a product management app that applies this thinking: AI as a thinking partner through the product requirements process, from messy inputs to a spec an agent can build from.
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