AWS Kiro Workshop · Spec-Driven Development

    Live MXP Studio deck for the AI Innovators Network: vibe coding, Working Backwards, EARS notation, AWS Kiro, and a Monday-morning activation challenge.

    Slide outline

    1. Title — Natural language to structured specs
    2. Who we are
    3. Vibe coding, defined
    4. Why I care
    5. The three-sided shift
    6. Where vibe coding breaks
    7. Working Backwards
    8. Kiro in five minutes
    9. Demo cover
    10. Your turn
    11. Monday challenge
    12. Closing
    AI Innovators Network × MxP Studio — Crystal City

    NATURAL LANGUAGE
    TO STRUCTURED SPECS

    Creating products customers love through spec-driven development — powered by AWS Kiro.

    Vibe CodingWorking BackwardsSpec-Driven DevAWS KiroAI-Native Product DevRapid Prototyping
    APR 22, 2026 · 6:00–8:00 PM EDT
    AWS SKILLS CENTER · CRYSTAL CITY, VA
    01 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    Who's on stage

    A QUICK HELLO.

    AJ BUBB

    INNOVATION STRATEGIST

    • ›20+ years: AWS, Amazon, Accenture
    • ›Host, Facing Disruption podcast
    • ›Helping mid-market companies navigate AI adoption
    AI StrategyVibe CodingProduct Innovation
    TONIGHT'S PARTNERSHIP

    MXP × AI INNOVATORS

    • ›MxP Studio: fractional AI strategy for mid-market
    • ›AI Innovators Network: DC/NoVA/MD's community of AI builders
    • ›Tonight: a hands-on expedition, together
    Fractional AIHands-OnCommunity
    02 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
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    Definition

    VIBE CODING ISN'T A TOOL.
    IT'S A NEW INTERFACE TO COMPUTING.

    Where natural language replaces syntax as the primary medium of creation.

    BEFORE
    Idea → PRD → Figma → Ticket → Sprint → Demo
    Months · $15K–$50K
    NOW
    Idea → Conversation → Working Thing
    Hours · $20/month

    [The specification is now the software. The conversation is now the craft.]

    03 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    Why I care so much about this

    I'VE WATCHED
    BRILLIANT IDEAS
    DIE IN POWERPOINT.

    Twenty years of PowerPoint → Pilot → Pilot Purgatory → shelved.

    The number of ideas I've seen killed not because they were bad — but because the cost of proving them was too high.

    Then I built something real with natural language.

    And the gap between "I have an idea" and "I have a thing" collapsed.

    That gap was the whole game.
    04 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    The shift — three forces, one rewiring

    THIS ISN'T ONE TREND. IT'S THREE, AT ONCE.

    ORGANIZATIONS
    Demand to move faster.
    Weekly is the new baseline. AI-native teams ship faster than the review cycles that govern them.
    CUSTOMERS
    Demand higher fidelity.
    A Figma mockup isn't enough anymore. They want to click. They want to touch it.
    BUILDERS
    Can finally articulate the problem space.
    The bottleneck was never code. It was translation.

    Any one of these is a shift. All three at once? That's a rewiring.

    05 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    The honest part

    VIBE CODING IS FAST. IT'S ALSO FORGETFUL.

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    100 messages in, nobody remembers why we decided what we decided.

    What works for a weekend hack doesn't work for a team, a product, a company.

    Speed without structure is just technical debt you accumulated faster.

    06 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    The oldest discipline meets the newest interface
    WORKING BACKWARDS
    +
    SPEC-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
    PR-FAQ
    Customer need
    (the thinking)
    →
    SPEC
    Requirements + Design + Tasks
    (the structure)
    →
    WORKING SOFTWARE
    Shipped
    (the outcome)

    What if the specification wasn't a document you filed away — but the actual source code of your product?

    07 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    The tool for tonight's expedition

    AWS KIRO — IN 60 SECONDS.

    SPECS
    3 files Kiro generates per feature:
    • › requirements.md
    • › design.md
    • › tasks.md
    STEERING
    Your "house rules" — read every time:
    • › stack
    • › style
    • › constraints
    HOOKS
    Triggers that fire agents automatically:
    • › on save
    • › on commit
    • › on demand
    EARSWHEN [condition], THE SYSTEM SHALL [behavior].The syntax of clear thinking.

    I live in Lovable and Claude day-to-day. Tonight we're going on this expedition with Kiro together — first time, live.

    08 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    Live demo

    WE'RE NOT JUST
    BUILDING THE THING.
    WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THE THING.

    A real idea. A one-paragraph press release. Requirements, design, tasks — and running software — in 45 minutes.

    THE FLOW
    IDEA → PRESS RELEASE → SPEC → PROTOTYPE
    ~ 45 MINUTES
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    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
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    Your turn

    WHAT WOULD YOU SPEC?

    Shout out a product you've been meaning to build.

    We'll write the PR-FAQ together. Right now. And see what Kiro does with it.

    NON-DEVS
    • ›Shape the PR-FAQ.
    • ›Define the customer.
    • ›Name the durable need.
    DEVS
    • ›Stress-test the EARS criteria.
    • ›Poke at the architecture.
    • ›Tell me where it breaks.

    No wrong answers. Just better questions.

    10 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    What to try Monday

    ONE SPEC. ONE THING. BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY.

    01.
    Pick one thing you'd normally open a Jira ticket for.
    02.
    Write the PR-FAQ. Define the customer. Name the need.
    03.
    Run it through Kiro. Tag me on LinkedIn when you ship.
    RESOURCE PACK
    • › PR-FAQ template
    • › Steering file starter
    • › EARS notation cheat sheet
    • › Three starter spec prompts
    • › Install links: Kiro · Lovable · Claude
    vibecode.mxp.studio/workshops/kiro

    I read every LinkedIn tag. Ship something.

    11 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO
    One last thing

    THE SHIFT ISN'T THAT AI WRITES CODE.
    IT'S THAT ARTICULATING WHAT YOU WANT
    JUST BECAME THE HIGHEST-LEVERAGE
    SKILL IN BUILDING SOFTWARE.

    That's not a technical skill. It's a thinking skill. And it's available to anyone in this room — tomorrow.

    THANK YOU
    AI Innovators Network
    AWS Skills Center
    FIND ME
    ajbubb.com
    Facing Disruption pod
    DRINKS NEXT
    Tacombi
    1550 Crystal Dr
    ajbubb.com
    linkedin / ajbubb
    12 / 12
    AI INNOVATORS × MXP STUDIO — APR 22
    MXP STUDIO