5.6 KiB
Building Software with AI: A Modular Block Approach
By Brian Krabach
3/28/2025
Imagine you're about to build a complex construction brick spaceship. You dump out thousands of tiny bricks and open the blueprint. Step by step, the blueprint tells you which pieces to use and how to connect them. You don't need to worry about the details of each brick or whether it will fit --- the instructions guarantee that every piece snaps together correctly. Now imagine those interlocking bricks could assemble themselves whenever you gave them the right instructions. This is the essence of our new AI-driven software development approach: we provide the blueprint, and AI builds the product, one modular piece at a time.
Like a brick model, our software is built from small, clear modules. Each module is a self-contained "brick" of functionality with defined connectors (interfaces) to the rest of the system. Because these connection points are standard and stable, we can generate or regenerate any single module independently without breaking the whole. Need to improve the user login component? We can have the AI rebuild just that piece according to its spec, then snap it back into place --- all while the rest of the system continues to work seamlessly. And if we ever need to make a broad, cross-cutting change that touches many pieces, we simply hand the AI a bigger blueprint (for a larger assembly or even the entire codebase) and let it rebuild that chunk in one go. Crucially, the external system contracts --- the equivalent of brick studs and sockets where pieces connect --- remain unchanged. This means even a regenerated system still fits perfectly into its environment, although inside it might be built differently, with fresh optimizations and improvements.
When using LLM-powered tools today, even what looks like a tiny edit is actually the LLM generating new code based on the specifications we provide. We embrace this reality and don't treat code as something to tweak line-by-line; we treat it as something to describe and then let the AI generate to create or assemble. By keeping each task small and self-contained --- akin to one page of a blueprint --- we ensure the AI has all the context it needs to generate that piece correctly from start to finish. This makes the code generation more predictable and reliable. The system essentially always prefers regeneration of a module (or a set of modules) within a bounded context, rather than more challenging edits at the code level. The result is code that's consistently in sync with its specification, built in a clean sweep every time.
The Human Role: From Code Mechanics to Architects
In this approach, humans step back from being code mechanics and instead take on the role of architects and quality inspectors. Much like a master builder, a human defines the vision and specifications up front --- the blueprint for what needs to be built. But once the spec (the blueprint) is handed off, the human doesn't hover over every brick placement. In fact, they don't need to read the code (just as you don't examine each brick's material for flaws). Instead, they focus on whether the assembled product meets the vision. They work at the specification level or higher: designing requirements, clarifying the intended behavior, and then evaluating the finished module or system by testing its behavior in action. If the login module is rebuilt, for example, the human reviews it by seeing if users can log in smoothly and securely --- not by poring over the source code. This elevates human involvement to where it's most valuable, letting AI handle the heavy lifting of code construction and assembly.
Building in Parallel
The biggest leap is that we don't have to build just one solution at a time. Because our AI "builders" work so quickly and handle modular instructions so well, we can spawn multiple versions of the software in parallel --- like having several brick sets assembled simultaneously. Imagine generating and testing multiple variants of a feature at once --- the AI could try several different recommendation algorithms for a product in parallel to see which performs best. It could even build the same application for multiple platforms simultaneously (web, mobile, etc.) by following platform-specific instructions. We could have all these versions built and tested side by side in a fraction of the time it would take a traditional team to do one. Each variant teaches us something: we learn what works best, which design is most efficient, which user experience is superior. Armed with those insights, we can refine our high-level specifications and then regenerate the entire system or any module again for another iteration. This cycle of parallel experimentation and rapid regeneration means we can innovate faster and more fearlessly. It's a development playground on a scale previously unimaginable --- all enabled by trusting our AI co-builders to handle the intricate assembly while we guide the vision.
In short, this brick-inspired, AI-driven approach flips the script of software development. We break the work into well-defined pieces, let AI assemble and reassemble those pieces as needed, and keep humans focused on guiding the vision and validating results. The outcome is a process that's more flexible, faster, and surprisingly liberating: we can reshape our software as easily as snapping together (or rebuilding) a model, and even build multiple versions of it in parallel. For our stakeholders, this means delivering the right solution faster, adapting to change without fear, and continually exploring new ideas --- brick by brick, at a pace and scale that set a new standard for innovation.