AI and Software Engineering: From Strategy to Execution

There are multiple tools that focus on spec-driven development aimed solely at the developer trying to get value from their AI code generation agents, but how do you get the whole team aligned and contributing to specs. We will present an approach that facilitates collaboration between Product Management and Developers by orchestrating a workflow that supports the entire team using principles of Behavior Driven Development and tools that implement Test-driven Development in the age of AI.

Join John Harbison (Head of Product Engineering, PrescriberPoint) and Jess Wolfe (CSM, Swarmia) for a candid conversation about what actually needs to be in place before you can successfully adopt AI-first software development. This isn't a how-to session on AI tools. It's about the leadership practices, cultural shifts, and engineering hygiene that must come first because without them, AI will simply amplify existing chaos. Drawing from PrescriberPoint's AI journey to 8-10x productivity gains with the same team size, Jess and John will unpack the controversial but critical principles that made the change stick: why engineering, product, and design need equal seats at the table; why traditional metrics like cycle time and WIP start to break down in agentic workflows; and why it's easier to be a good human now, where mentorship, positive reinforcement, and micro-level coaching can deliver outsized ROI. You'll also learn why leaders need to return to being player-coaches, how an apprentice craftsmanship model is replacing traditional management, and practical next steps for assessing whether your organization is truly ready for an AI-first software development approach. This talk is for product and engineering leaders who want the real prerequisites for AI success, so join us for an honest discussion of the human and process foundations that determine whether AI makes you exponentially better or exponentially worse.

Decisiveness Is a System, Not a Trait

Most companies don’t fail because they make bad decisions. They fail because no one can decide. As complexity increases, organizations drift into analysis paralysis, alignment theater, and endless escalation—confusing discussion with progress and consensus with leadership.This concept challenges the myth that decisiveness is about speed, confidence, or individual heroics. Instead, it argues that decisiveness is a designed capability: explicit decision rights, disciplined decision processes, and a system that turns choices into action. When those elements are misaligned—even slightly—organizations slow down, accountability disappears, and execution stalls. We will explore how decision systems quietly break—and how leaders can redesign them to restore momentum.