A Tale of Two Systems: Design and Reality

Have you ever noticed that the system you designed and the one actually built are not the same? You might have seen job descriptions saying “We’re a fast-paced company” but what does that really mean when you have to make big decisions about the software’s design? The clean architecture and implementation path you started with, can often turn into a mix of quick fixes and temporary solutions.

It’s easy to get distracted from what customers actually need in the first place in the fast moving and ever evolving software world. And with AI, the change frequency has increased dramatically. Especially in AI startups, where new models and features come up every week and everyone is racing to be first. It’s hard to know how much time to spend on design and planning versus just “vibe-coding”. You hear CEOs and CTOs say, “AI is writing half our codebase”. So, is software design and architecture still relevant, and how do you justify the time spent on them when the requirements you finalize today might not hold true six months later?

In this talk, we’ll explore why all this happens, the gap between design and implementation, how to make smart design choices for the long run while still moving fast, backed by real world war stories. We can be certain of one thing - software is going to change with scale and new feature additions. This session will cover how to balance what needs to be done now versus what can be left for the future, so you’re building for today without blocking tomorrow.