Shaving the Yak with AI: Devs want specs, Product Owners want speed | Adam Cogan

Contact us: https://bit.ly/4fAFrVx
https://yakshaver.ai

Learn how AI can change the game in an important scenario. The age-old battle between Product Owners and Developers rages on: POs push for speed, while devs demand clarity. When specs are too vague, developers waste time making assumptions. When specs are too detailed, POs get bogged down in documentation.

00:00 | The YakShaving Dilemma
02:50 | Transforming Words into work items
10:52 | Live AI Demo
29:30 | What we’ve learned building AI
49:58 | The journey to an AI agent The result?

Context switching, frustration, and a backlog filled with half-baked work items. In this talk, Adam Cogan will show how AI powered tools like YakShaver (for GitHub and Azure DevOps) and recently Loom (for Jira) can act as the ultimate peacemaker. These tools capture discussions, structuring work items, and ensuring that every backlog item is ready… and assigned to the right backlog—all automatically. Learn the lessons from deploying AI to solve one of the most persistent struggles in software development. This talk will show you how AI brings balance to your team.

Bonus: See how a solution can be: better with Microsoft Teams to capture audio + video, and leverage Whisper for transcription, all glued together with GPT-4o to generate structured content. have a decision-tree architecture with Semantic Kernel orchestration to enable seamless integration with Azure DevOps, GitHub, and more.

Links: https://www.ssw.com.au/rules/
Need help?: https://ssw.com.au/ssw/Consulting/
Follow us:
LinkedIn:   / ssw
Twitter:   / ssw_tv
Facebook:   / ssw.page
Instagram:   / ssw_tv
TikTok:   / ssw_tv

Get in touch: Adam Cogan – SSW Chief Architect
About: https://www.ssw.com.au/people/adam-cogan
LinkedIn:   / adamcogan

For more information about SSW’s consulting services, please visit https://ssw.com.au

#yakshaver #aiagents #BestPractices #DevOps #Scrum #DeveloperTips #SoftwareDevelopment #TechCulture #Productivity #ContinuousLearning #aiintegration

V1 – Bahjat

About the speakers

Adam Cogan

Adam Cogan blogs at adamcogan.com and interviews for SSW TV frequently. He is the Chief Architect at SSW, a Microsoft Solutions Partner specializing in custom enterprise .NET and Azure solutions mostly using Blazor, Angular, and React. His solutions also involve AI, Office 365, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform.

Adam is currently working on TinaCMS - the world's best Markdown GitHub editor.

Do you explain why you’ve deleted or updated an appointment? | Adam Cogan | SSW Rules

Ever wonder why a meeting was moved or cancelled? Adam Cogan explains the “Secret Ingredient” to professional scheduling: always include a version history and reason for change at the top of your appointments. Improve clarity, keep a record of changes, and hold participants accountable with this simple SSW Rule.

Chat first before changing others’ code | Adam Cogan

Changing someone else’s code? Don’t just dive in! Adam explains why it’s important to check the source history and talk to the original developer before making changes. A quick chat can save headaches and keep everyone on the same page. Perfect advice for devs working in teams!

SSW TimePro – Create a new tenant | Jeoffrey Fischer

Learn how to provision a new tenant in TimePro and sync it with an external Dynamics 365 CRM system.

How to Report Bugs in Seconds | Brady Stroud

Tired of tedious bug reporting? Watch how Brady uses YakShaver.ai to turn a quick screen recording into a professional PBI instantly.

White space – Tips for recording demo | Adam Cogan

Awkward pauses can ruin an otherwise good presentation. In this video, Adam shares a simple tip to handle white space during demos and recordings. By telling your audience what’s about to happen, you avoid silence, cut out useless fillers, and sound more confident. Perfect for product demos, meetings, or presentations on any stage.

Don’t throw things over the fence until you’ve done what you can | Adam Cogan

“Throwing it over the fence” means passing your work or problem to others. This short video delivers one clear message: before you hand something off, do what you can yourself. It’s a simple reminder about responsibility, effort, and ownership in work, teamwork, and daily life.

SSW Strasbourg Office in Europe | Walkthrough with Jean

Hear from SSW Senior Software Engineer Jake Bayliss about the importance of providing context, showcasing your work and asking for questions & direction from Product Owners.

Liking Github issues when they are read | Adam Cogan

How to supercharge a company with AI | Ulysses Maclaren

Explore how AI is transforming businesses right now! In this video, Ulysses Maclaren from SSW walks us through the innovative ways AI is being used at Tina CMS. From automating customer interactions to analyzing vast amounts of data and even managing sales leads, AI is revolutionizing workflows