Concept to code: Transforming ideas into functional products with Kiro
Summary
The handoff is dead. For decades, the road from idea to working product ran through translators. Designers created UI sketches. Engineers interpreted. What shipped was always a relative of the original vision, never quite the vision itself. AI-assisted development is rewriting the contract. Kiro, an agentic IDE built around specification, puts the power to build in the hands of the person who already holds the intent. The design.md spec becomes the design output. Static mocks become shippable code. No relay, no translation, no slow erosion of meaning between rooms. In this session, Rikki Teeters takes an idea from spec to functioning product live on stage. You will watch the spec take shape, see Kiro build against it, and feel the moment a concept becomes code in real time. Expect a working grasp of Kiro, a new frame for the spec as the most consequential artifact a designer makes, and one question worth carrying home. When execution is no longer someone else’s job, what will you build first?
Key Insights
-
•
Traditional design-to-engineering handoffs are effectively dead due to AI-driven direct code generation.
-
•
AI enables designers to ship functional products themselves, removing the need for separate coding phases.
-
•
The new builder team model blurs roles between design, engineering, and product management, with AI as a core team member.
-
•
Design.md is a new kind of design spec written to guide AI in building products, replacing fragmented mockups and annotations.
-
•
Spec-driven AI development leads to higher quality and fewer errors compared to vague prompt-based coding, reducing 'AI slop'.
-
•
About 80% of code merged to production at Anthropic is now written by AI (Claude), showing AI's growing role in development.
-
•
AI coding parity with humans was reached recently, and AI is expected to outperform humans in coding within a year.
-
•
UX professionals can act as directors of AI development, controlling product vision from design through to launch.
-
•
Tools like Kiro facilitate both vibe coding (conversational iterative prompts) and spec-driven coding for designers.
-
•
Including personas, user flows, and edge cases in the design.md spec helps AI build more human-centered and accessible products.
Notable Quotes
"More times than not, the product looks quite different than the vision we designed by the time it ships."
"The traditional handoff between design and engineering is officially dead."
"We’re able to use AI to create the vision and develop that vision into real working code and ship it ourselves."
"When anyone can make anything very fast and cheap, the role of UX is evolving."
"At Anthropic, 80% of the code merged to production is now written by Claude."
"AI writing code at parity with humans is a huge achievement, and it’s expected to surpass humans within a year."
"Design.md is not technical specs but a document that you can give to AI to instruct what it actually builds."
"AI slop means a lot of low quality AI-generated content with little human thinking and decision-making involved."
"If you can describe your idea clearly enough that someone else could build it, you can have AI build it for you."
"Stop handing off your vision and start shipping it yourself."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Design toolkits created in design software requiring special licenses slow down personalization and adoption."
Michele WongHelping Them Help Us
January 8, 2024
"I’ve onboarded 80% of the design and CX department, and it really shapes their trajectory and connection to culture."
Allison SandersOperating with Purpose
January 8, 2024
"Overlaying cultural dialogue on user journey maps uncovers insightful tensions and opportunities."
Neil BarrieWidening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
March 25, 2024
"If you do anything with other people, you’re creating culture."
Dave GrayLiminal Thinking: Sense-making for systems in large organizations
May 14, 2015
"Design ops is at the heart of how we can achieve outstanding quality and value in design."
Stephen PollardClosing Keynote: Getting giants to dance - what can we learn from designing large and complex public infrastructure?
November 7, 2017
"Teams testing components in real-world contexts early can catch issues before products are even built."
Gabriela BarnevaOperationalizing Inclusive Design in Design Ops
September 11, 2025
"Execution without discipline means no impact."
Laurent ChristophScale the impact of DesignOps in 3D: Diligence, Decision, Discipline
September 17, 2025
"Engineers don’t want to mess with CSS; they want to write business logic."
Nalini P. KotamrajuAn Organizational Story: Salesforce Lightning Design System
June 9, 2016
"Please read our code of conduct to ensure everyone can be their fullest selves while respecting others."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
October 1, 2021
