Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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
lauratacho.com
Read Birgitta's article on spec-driven development on Martin Fowler's website
martinfowler.com/articles/exploring-gen-ai/sdd-3-tools.html
Find out more about the Future of Software Development Retreat mentioned on this episode. thoughtworks.com/about-us/events/the-future-of-software-development
Read the full transcript here:
thoughtworks.com/insights/podcasts/technology-podcasts/what-is-spec-driven-development
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
lauratacho.com
Read Birgitta's article on spec-driven development on Martin Fowler's website
martinfowler.com/articles/exploring-gen-ai/sdd-3-tools.html
Find out more about the Future of Software Development Retreat mentioned on this episode. thoughtworks.com/about-us/events/the-future-of-software-development
Read the full transcript here:
thoughtworks.com/insights/podcasts/technology-podcasts/what-is-spec-driven-development
