Working software
Short cycles that can be shown. Progress is something a person can exercise, not only a status colour.
Approach — From brief to slice
A short path from conversation to a first slice.
The opening is a method, not a promise that every company moves at the same speed. It exists so engineering starts against a written outcome.
A typical opening
01
Day 0
The conversation
The outcome, the systems, the constraints, and who can decide. Enough to tell whether there is a real commission.
02
Days 1–2
The outcome brief
A definition of done, the known risks, and the quality bar. This is the document the pod is accountable to.
03
Days 3–5
Pod and first slice
A proposed pod, and a first slice small enough to ship and large enough to show how delivery will work.
04
Days 6–10
Access and the first increment
Environments, permissions, and the first planned increment. Engineering starts against the brief.
Cadence
What a working week contains.
A written note
What moved, what is blocked, and which decision is needed. The delivery lead keeps it current.
Evidence with the change
Tests attached to the work. Evaluation attached when the change is model-backed.
One accountable owner
A delivery lead who can answer for the outcome, the pod, and the gate.
AI in the workflow
Speed with a written bar.
- 01
The customer environment holds the sensitive material
Code, data, and secrets stay where the customer operates them. Tooling is chosen to respect that boundary.
- 02
Generated code is still engineering
A change produced with an AI coding tool is reviewed and tested before it is treated as done.
- 03
Model-backed features have an evaluation
The cases that define acceptable behaviour are written, run, and kept. A demo is not the gate.
- 04
Choices follow the product
Models, retrieval, and agents are selected for the workflow, the data sensitivity, and how the feature will be operated.
Records
What the engagement leaves behind.
These are the artefacts a buyer can ask for. They keep the outcome visible after the call is over.
- 01An outcome brief, with a definition of done
- 02The pod, and the person accountable for it
- 03Iteration notes: movement, blockers, decisions
- 04Test evidence, and evaluation evidence where AI changes behaviour
- 05A release record for what actually shipped
Start a brief
Bring a rough outcome.
The brief can be imperfect. The first conversation is how it becomes something a pod can be accountable for.
