Building the software factory from the spec up | LinearB's Ariel Illouz & Ofer Affias
Show notes
LinearB's software factory spends more time on the spec than on the code. VP of Engineering Ariel Illouz spent the last year moving his team of about 30 engineers from vibe coding to spec-driven development, starting with a single spec-writing skill and a rule that every story above three story points gets a spec. This week on Dev Interrupted, he and returning guest Ofer Affias, LinearB's senior director of product, join Andrew to walk through a project Ariel puts at six months without AI that shipped in roughly four weeks, at least two of them spent on specs. Ofer explains why proving the impact meant measuring AI adopters as separate cohorts. They close the conversation on where the software factory goes next, as agents take over more of the loops humans run today.
Save your seat: What your software factory is doing to your engineers
Join us at AGNTCon + MCPCon on Oct 22 & 23 in San Jose. Use code MEDIA25 for 25% off your ticket.
Follow the show:
- Subscribe to our Substack
- Follow us on LinkedIn
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Follow the hosts:
Follow today's guest:
- LinearB Metrics Builder: The custom metrics builder Ariel's team built spec-first, a project he puts at six months without AI.
- LinearB AI benchmarks: The AI engineering productivity gap: how elite teams pull ahead in 2026.
- Connect with Ariel: LinkedIn
- Connect with Ofer: LinkedIn
OFFERS
- Start Free Trial: Get started with LinearB's AI productivity platform for free.
- Book a Demo: Learn how you can ship faster, improve DevEx, and lead with confidence in the AI era.
LEARN ABOUT LINEARB
- AI Code Reviews: Automate reviews to catch bugs, security risks, and performance issues before they hit production.
- AI & Productivity Insights: Go beyond DORA with AI-powered recommendations and dashboards to measure and improve performance.
- AI-Powered Workflow Automations: Use AI-generated PR descriptions, smart routing, and other automations to reduce developer toil.
- MCP Server: Interact with your engineering data using natural language to build custom reports and get answers on the fly.