Scott & Mark Learn To...Sculpt, not Spec

Scott & Mark Learn To...Sculpt, not Spec

From Scott & Mark Learn To... by Microsoft

April 22, 2026 · 20 min · Season 1 · Episode 36

About this episode

Scott and Mark discuss the evolving nature of software development in the age of AI, advocating for an iterative sculpting approach over traditional specifications.

In this episode,  Scott Hanselman  and  Mark Russinovich  ​​explore how software development is evolving in the age of AI, challenging the idea that everything should start with a fully defined spec. They highlight a more iterative, sculpting approach to building, where continuous refinement, testing, and human judgment are essential and discuss the realities of AI-assisted coding, including edge cases, maintenance, and the limits of productivity gains.    Takeaways:      AI-assisted coding works best as an iterative process, not a one-shot, fully spec’d solution  Edge cases and real-world usage quickly expose gaps that initial builds  AI can accelerate development, but human review, testing, and bottlenecks still limit true productivity gains       Who are they?       View Scott Hanselman on LinkedIn    View Mark Russinovich on LinkedIn       Watch Scott and Mark Learn on  YouTube            Listen to other episodes at  scottandmarklearn.to  &nbsp…

People in this episode

Hosts: Scott Hanselman, Mark Russinovich

Topics covered

  • software development
  • AI
  • iterative process
  • coding
  • productivity
  • human judgment

Keywords

  • AI-assisted coding
  • iterative process
  • software development
  • edge cases
  • human review
  • productivity gains

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Microsoft

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