EP 147 - AI Tools: CLEAR with Marcos Polanco

EP 147 - AI Tools: CLEAR with Marcos Polanco

From Product for Product Management by Matt Green & Moshe Mikanovsky

February 4, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

Marcos Polanco discusses his CLEAR method for using AI in software development.

We’re continuing our AI Tools series with Marcos Polanco, engineering leader, founder, and ecosystem builder from the Bay Area, who joins Matt and Moshe to introduce CLEAR, his method for using AI to build real software, not just demos. Drawing on decades in software development and his recent research into how AI is reshaping the way teams ship products, Marcos shares how CLEAR gives both technical and non‑technical builders a production‑oriented way to work with vibe coding tools.Instead of treating AI like a magical black box, Marcos frames it as an “idiot savant”: incredibly capable and eager, but with no judgment. CLEAR wraps that raw power in structure, guardrails, and engineering discipline, so founders and PMs can go from prototype to production while keeping humans in control of the last, hardest 20%. Join Matt, Moshe, and Marcos as they explore: Marcos’s journey through engineering, founding, and AI research, and why he created CLEAR Why AI tools like Bolt, Cursor, Claude, and Gemini are fabulous for prototypes but risky for production without a method CLEAR in detail: C – Context: onboarding AI like a new hire, using stories and behavior‑driven design (BDD) to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Matt Green, Moshe Mikanovsky

Guest: Marcos Polanco

Topics covered

  • AI tools
  • software development
  • product management
  • engineering
  • vibe coding
  • CLEAR method

Keywords

  • AI
  • software
  • CLEAR
  • product management
  • engineering
  • vibe coding
  • TDD
  • BDD

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CLEAR, Bolt, Cursor, Claude, Gemini

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