The Intent Layer

A publication about the emerging discipline of using agents to write code

Software development is undergoing a phase change.

For decades, the primary interface between human intention and software behavior has been code. Engineers translated goals into implementation details by hand. Product managers wrote requirements. Designers created mockups. Engineers decomposed work, wrote code, tested it, reviewed it, deployed it, and operated it.

AI agents are beginning to disturb that model.

The important shift is not simply that agents can generate code. Code generation is only the visible symptom. The deeper change is that a new abstraction layer is emerging above the codebase: a layer where humans express intent, constraints, specifications, architectural principles, tests, workflows, policies, and desired outcomes, and agents translate those into working software.

That layer needs a name.

The Intent Layer will be a publication about this emerging discipline: how software gets built when human beings move from typing every line of code to designing, supervising, constraining, reviewing, and orchestrating intelligent systems that can act inside the development process.

This is not a newsletter about “AI coding tips.” It is about the new operating model for software engineering.