Apr 12, 2026

The Intent Engineer: Closing the Gap Between Business & Engineering - Manuel Klein

The real bottleneck in software isn't writing code, it's defining business intent. Meet the Intent Engineer, a new role designed to close that gap.

#1about 5 minutes

Enterprises are accelerating their adoption of new technology

The rapid pace of technological change, driven by AI, is forcing enterprises to digest and react to new information faster than ever before.

#2about 3 minutes

The evolution of software development methodologies

Software development has evolved from engineers sitting next to business, to siloed IT departments, to Agile and DevOps in an effort to improve value delivery.

#3about 9 minutes

Shifting left again to address the requirements bottleneck

With AI accelerating code production, the primary bottleneck has shifted to business requirements, necessitating another "shift left" to bring engineers closer to the business.

#4about 10 minutes

Introducing the intent engineer to bridge business and tech

The intent engineer is a new role that operates at a higher abstraction level than user stories, focusing on the "what" and "why" to effectively leverage LLMs for development.

#5about 5 minutes

Key skills and competencies for an intent engineer

An ideal intent engineer combines a strong engineering background with deep domain knowledge and crucial social competencies to effectively extract and translate business needs.

#6about 4 minutes

A practical example of defining a business intent

An insurance claim's "first notification of loss" serves as a concrete example of an intent, which includes the goal (completeness), the "why" (coverage checks, compliance), and the context.

#7about 4 minutes

The workflow from creating an intent to implementation

The process involves documenting the intent, using an LLM to clarify it, and then generating a detailed implementation plan that aligns with existing enterprise architecture.

#8about 10 minutes

How intent engineering impacts team structure and orchestration

Adopting intent engineering leads to smaller, more autonomous teams, requiring an "enabling team" to provide tools, establish best practices, and guide the new role.

#9about 5 minutes

How to begin implementing intent engineering in enterprises

Start the transition by running small experiments with carefully selected teams that include both strong promoters and constructive skeptics to ensure buy-in and address challenges early.