"Nobody's Walking Over to a Desk": The Hidden Cost of Removing Humans from Software Spec Loops
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Left of the Loop: Nobody’s Walking Over to a Desk
Simon Schrottner’s analysis targets the modern AI agent workflow. The old process relied on a confused developer walking to a desk mid-sprint, a safety net that is now gone.
Why This Matters
Key Insights
- The ‘walk to the desk’ was an undocumented but critical circuit breaker, catching vague specs in week two rather than production.
- Agent clarifying questions are directed back at the prompter’s own framing, not at other meeting participants who might hold contradictory knowledge.
- Standard Scrum failure modes (long refinement sessions, wrong invite list, oversized stories) have existed for 20 years and are not unique to agent-driven spec sessions.
- ‘Artificial harmony’ in retros mirrors fake consensus in agent specs – both produce bad requirements that no one challenges.
Practical Applications
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References:
- From internal analysis
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