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Leading Projects with AI Agents

Lead a big project where AI agents write the code: architecture, plans, rules, quality gates, people.

project kickoffarchitecture decisionsADRsmilestonesvertical slicestask breakdownCLAUDE.mdconventionsparallel agentsworktreesCI gateslegacy codemigrationsstakeholdersrisk registerstatus updatescapstone

Lessons

  1. 40.1From business goal to architecture decisionA big project starts as one sentence from the business. You turn it into numbers, compare a few real options, measure the scary unknown, and write down the decision. 30 min
  2. 40.2Breaking down a big projectA decision isn't a plan. Make something thin work end to end first, grow it in slices, start the slow outside things early, and give dates as ranges. 30 min
  3. 40.3Codebase rules for agentsEvery agent session starts with no memory of yesterday. Write short rules where it will read them, show it the right example, and make the dangerous things impossible. 30 min
  4. 40.4Parallel agents and quality gatesSeveral agents at once can write a lot of code. But people still review it, and changes that are fine alone can break together. Here's how to run them in parallel safely. 30 min
  5. 40.5Changing legacy code with AI agentsOld code nobody understands? Let the agent map it, photograph what it does today, then replace it piece by piece. Never all at once. 30 min
  6. 40.6Leading people and stakeholdersAgents write the code, but people fund it, wait for it and decide about it. Tell them what matters, early, and give them choices. 30 min
  7. 40.7Capstone: lead a quarter-long projectOne whole quarter, three squads, agents writing the code. You lead it from the first number on the page to the last lesson learned. 30 min

On the job: try it on your own project

Take the biggest project you are leading. Write the goal in one paragraph, the key architecture decisions as short ADRs, and three milestones made of vertical slices. Ask Claude Code to break the first milestone into agent-sized tasks with acceptance criteria. Then write a one-page project plan with a risk register and the quality gates every agent change must pass.

Can you do this now?

0/5. Anything you can't tick yet: reopen that lesson's practice ladder.