The Agentic Development Lifecycle (ADLC) — Vixera Labs
The Agentic Development Lifecycle.
Most teams still run the traditional software development lifecycle at human pace. The Agentic Development Lifecycle (ADLC) puts agents at every stage — so the same work ships in a fraction of the time. This is how I build, and what I teach.
The proof
This isn’t theory. Products built this way have raised $45M+ and reached $227M+ in combined valuation, with seven acquired and two on Shark Tank. One full Shark Tank build shipped in two weeks — founders walked on stage with a finished product and raised $4M. The same approach has powered US government technology engagements, including civic technology for a major US city government office.
Two life cycles — same stages, different speed
The same product — a fraction of the time
Traditional
Agentic Development Lifecycle
Roughly 6–10× faster — not by cutting corners, but by collapsing the planning and hand-off overhead and letting agents do the building under test.
Same scope. Same quality bar. The engineering moves from typing to directing and verifying.
One loop, run at every stage
Under the hood, every stage runs the same engine: you set the direction, agents build under test, and the results loop straight back to you. You stay in control — the typing just moves to the agents.
Set the plan, spec & intent
Code written to the spec
Red → green, every change
Approve, correct, refine
The ADLC, step by step
Seven stages, start to finish — the way real software gets built with AI in the loop. Tap any step to see what you do inside it, and what you walk away with.
What you'll do
- Pressure-test the idea with AI
- Define scope and constraints
- Choose the architecture direction
What you'll have
- Agreed goals & scope
- Architecture direction
- Milestone plan
It’s not hype — it’s decades-old engineering
Every skill in this course traces back to the books serious engineers have trusted for years. New tools, proven principles.
Tracer bullets
Build a thin, working slice end-to-end to prove the architecture before fleshing it out.
The Pragmatic Programmer · Hunt & Thomas
Deep modules
Clean, self-contained pieces with simple edges — a codebase you can navigate.
A Philosophy of Software Design · John Ousterhout
Red · green · refactor
Write the test, make it pass, then improve — the loop the agent runs.
Test-Driven Development · Kent Beck
Who it’s for
Founders and engineers who want to build real products with AI at speed — and want the lifecycle, not just the tools.