Thoughtworks Technology Podcast · 2026-05-28 · 46 min
Semantic diffusion, combined with the pace of technology change, makes talking about AI-adjacent practices and techniques incredibly diffficult. There are few better examples of this issue than the term 'spec-driven development'. Although it's not new - its coinage precedes our current AI moment - it has become ubiquitous over the last six months or so as software professionals attempt to develop a vocabulary for talking about how they're developing methods for working successfully with coding agents. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, Birgitta Böckeler is joined by Laura Tacho - Developer Experience at AWS - to discuss all things spec-driven development. From competing definitions to different interpretations, implementations and workflows, the discussion provides a frank and grounded look at one of the most discussed and debated terms in modern software engineering. Learn more about Laura's work by visiting her website: Read Birgitta's article on spec-driven development on Martin Fowler's website: Learn more about The Future of Software Development Retreat discussed on this episode and explore some of the key insights:
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