Development PracticesConference45min
(Panel) Spec-Driven Development in the Age of Agents
The panel explores how AI-driven software generation shifts development from coding to defining intent. It examines Spec-Driven Development as the main interface, addressing challenges of specifying requirements for non-deterministic agents and whether prompt engineering becomes formal design as code turns into a commodity.
Anton ArhipovJetBrains
Baruch SadogurskyTessl
Stefano MaestriIBM
Alessio SoldanoIBM
Alex GavrilescuFunstage GmbH
Alessandra PasiniAmazon Web Services (AWS)
talkDetail.whenAndWhere
Friday, February 6, 15:10-15:55
Room B3
We are witnessing a fundamental shift in software engineering. As AI
agents become capable of generating entire features, the bottleneck is
no longer writing syntax—it is defining intent. This evolution brings
Spec-Driven Development (SDD) back into the spotlight, not as a
bureaucratic documentation step, but as the primary interface for
software creation.
In this panel, we explore the reality of building software when you're
pair programming with an LLM. We will discuss the architectural
implications of moving from imperative coding to declarative
specifications. How do we define unambiguous requirements for
non-deterministic agents? Does "prompt engineering" evolve into rigorous
system design? Join us to discover if the Spec is truly the new Source
of Truth, or just another layer of abstraction to maintain in a world
where code is becoming a commodity.
agents become capable of generating entire features, the bottleneck is
no longer writing syntax—it is defining intent. This evolution brings
Spec-Driven Development (SDD) back into the spotlight, not as a
bureaucratic documentation step, but as the primary interface for
software creation.
In this panel, we explore the reality of building software when you're
pair programming with an LLM. We will discuss the architectural
implications of moving from imperative coding to declarative
specifications. How do we define unambiguous requirements for
non-deterministic agents? Does "prompt engineering" evolve into rigorous
system design? Join us to discover if the Spec is truly the new Source
of Truth, or just another layer of abstraction to maintain in a world
where code is becoming a commodity.
Anton Arhipov
Anton is a Developer Advocate at JetBrains, working with Kotlin, IntelliJ IDEA, and AI-driven developer tools. With a background in server-side development, he has spent over a decade building software for developers. A Java Champion since 2014, Anton speaks at conferences, shares insights on the Kotlin YouTube channel, and enjoys exploring new ideas in programming languages, AI-powered tooling, and developer workflows. He’s always experimenting with new tech, looking for ways to make coding more efficient and enjoyable.
Baruch Sadogursky
Baruch Sadogursky (@jbaruch) did Java before it had generics, DevOps before there was Docker, and DevRel before it had a name. He built DevRel at JFrog from a ten-person company through IPO, co-authored "Liquid Software" and "DevOps Tools for Java Developers," and is a Java Champion, Microsoft MVP, and CNCF Ambassador alumni.
Today, he's obsessed with how AI agents actually write code. At Tessl, an AI agent enablement platform, Baruch focuses on context engineering, management, and sharing. On top of sharing context with AI agents, Baruch also shares knowledge with developers through blog posts, meetups, and conferences like DevNexus, QCon, Kubecon, and Devoxx, mostly about why vibecoding doesn't scale.
Today, he's obsessed with how AI agents actually write code. At Tessl, an AI agent enablement platform, Baruch focuses on context engineering, management, and sharing. On top of sharing context with AI agents, Baruch also shares knowledge with developers through blog posts, meetups, and conferences like DevNexus, QCon, Kubecon, and Devoxx, mostly about why vibecoding doesn't scale.
Alessio Soldano
Open-source software engineer with over 15yrs of experience in the field and people manager of a worldwide distributed and diverse team of engineers. Contributor of RESTEasy and many other successful open-source projects (WildFly, Quarkus, Apache CXF, Apache WSS4J, Apache Santuario, ...)
Alex Gavrilescu
Alex Gavrilescu leads backend & web engineering at Funstage GmbH in Vienna, keeping millions of free‑to‑play gamers happily tapping. He still ships code, tinkers with Raspberry Pi Kubernetes clusters for fun, and is passionate about weaving project‑management smarts with practical AI. Most recently he created Backlog.md, a micro‑tool that turns side‑project chaos into shippable tasks.
Alessandra Pasini
Alessandra Pasini is a Solutions Architect at AWS based in Zurich, specializing in analytics and AI/ML solutions. She works with leading European companies on cloud transformation and has a strong passion for public speaking, regularly presenting on topics including data strategy, Kiro, AI-guided development, and generative AI solutions. She is also dedicated to empowering the next generation of technologists through mentorship and community engagement.
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