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The Rediscovery of Deep Specification: How LLMs will Rewrite the Agile Playbook

ARTICLE

The Rediscovery of Deep Specification: How LLMs will Rewrite the Agile Playbook

AI & innovation

strategy

Agile moved us away from deep specification for good reasons. LLMs may have quietly removed them. Our Director of Engineering, Brendan Lawlor, makes the case that some assumptions shaping software development for 25 years are worth revisiting.

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Avatar picture of the author: Brendan Lawlor
Brendan Lawlor

Director of Engineering, 8 West Consulting

May 26, 2026

 

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  • The Rediscovery of Deep Specification: How LLMs will Rewrite the Agile Playbook

    ARTICLE

    The Rediscovery of Deep Specification: How LLMs will Rewrite the Agile Playbook

    AI & innovation

    strategy

    Agile moved us away from deep specification for good reasons. LLMs may have quietly removed them. Our Director of Engineering, Brendan Lawlor, makes the case that some assumptions shaping software development for 25 years are worth revisiting.

    READ MORE
    Avatar picture of the author: Brendan Lawlor
    Brendan Lawlor

    Director of Engineering, 8 West Consulting

    May 26, 2026

  • Supply Chain Defense for Modern Package Managers

    ARTICLE

    Supply Chain Defense for Modern Package Managers

    security

    AI & innovation

    architecture

    Modern software imports code from hundreds of strangers at build time, and AI-powered attackers are making that risk harder to ignore. Our Software Architect, Russ, breaks down the practical defences every engineering team should have in place across TypeScript, C#, Python, Kotlin, and Rust.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Russ Painter
    Russ Painter

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    May 20, 2026

  • Comprehension Debt: How Misusing AI Can Make You Worse At Your Job

    ARTICLE

    Comprehension Debt: How Misusing AI Can Make You Worse At Your Job

    AI & innovation

    strategy

    Using AI to move faster is useful. Losing the reasoning behind what it produces is a risk most teams underestimate. Our Software Architect, Russ, explores comprehension debt, what it is, why it applies across every role, and how to avoid it.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Russ Painter
    Russ Painter

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Apr 28, 2026

  • Chrome Dev Tools AI Generated Code for Page Querying and Brainstorming

    ARTICLE

    Chrome Dev Tools AI Generated Code for Page Querying and Brainstorming

    AI & innovation

    Chrome 147 added AI code generation directly in the developer console, and it's more useful than it sounds. This article walks through practical examples of using it for DOM querying, data scraping, and quick rebranding proofs of concept without writing a line of code manually.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Russ Painter
    Russ Painter

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Apr 21, 2026

  • Caveman AI Skill for Terse Replies

    ARTICLE

    Caveman AI Skill for Terse Replies

    AI & innovation

    AI output is often too long, too polished, and full of filler. Our Software Architect, Russ, shares the Caveman skill, a practical way to strip AI responses back to what actually matters, with installation instructions and usage options for individuals and teams.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Russ Painter
    Russ Painter

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Apr 13, 2026

  • Brooks’ Law Still Holds. But Something Else Changed.

    ARTICLE

    Brooks’ Law Still Holds. But Something Else Changed.

    AI & innovation

    strategy

    Brooks' Law hasn't broken, but something fundamental has shifted. Our Director of Engineering, Brendan Lawlor, explores how LLMs are moving the bottlenecks in software delivery and what that means for engineering roles at every level.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Brendan Lawlor
    Brendan Lawlor

    Director of Engineering, 8 West Consulting

    Mar 25, 2026

  • What I Actually Want From AI in Software Delivery: Read the Logs, Write the Fix, Let Me Approve

    ARTICLE

    What I Actually Want From AI in Software Delivery: Read the Logs, Write the Fix, Let Me Approve

    AI & innovation

    Code generation is only half the story. Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, makes the case for AI that stays in the loop after the code is written, reading logs, identifying root causes, preparing fixes, and handing the result to a human for approval.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Mel Collins
    Mel Collins

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Mar 16, 2026

  • IDE-Less Development with Codex

    ARTICLE

    IDE-Less Development with Codex

    AI & innovation

    Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, built a fully functional Android app in 5 hours using Codex, with no prior Android, Flutter, or Bluetooth protocol experience. A practical look at what IDE-less, conversational AI development actually looks like in practice.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Mel Collins
    Mel Collins

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Mar 11, 2026

  • CLEAR. Practical AI-First Design Principles for Real Codebases

    ARTICLE

    CLEAR. Practical AI-First Design Principles for Real Codebases

    AI & innovation

    architecture

    AI tools have given architecture a second consumer alongside human developers. Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, outlines CLEAR, the practical framework for designing codebases where both humans and AI can reason effectively.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Mel Collins
    Mel Collins

    Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

    Jan 20, 2026

  • Understanding (and fixing) the LLM Hallucinations Problem

    ARTICLE

    Understanding (and fixing) the LLM Hallucinations Problem

    AI & innovation

    LLM hallucinations are one of the most discussed limitations of AI, but what causes them and can they be fixed? This article explains why models hallucinate and the techniques being used to contain them. A practical read for anyone working with AI where accuracy matters.

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    Avatar picture of the author: Marcello Carboni
    Marcello Carboni

    Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

    Nov 04, 2025

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