April 14, 2026
Standups, sit down
Saying Goodbye to Agile
Tech throws a funeral for Agile — then argues at the wake
TLDR: A viral essay says Agile is over and that clear written plans are back, thanks to AI tools that need precise instructions. Commenters split: some cheer the death of buzzwords, others say rapid build-and-fix will always return—with jokes about an AI running meetings stealing the show.
The internet just threw a dramatic goodbye party for “Agile,” the once‑trendy way of making software, after a fiery essay declared it vague, overhyped, and decades late to ideas older than disco. The piece says AI coding tools (think smart assistants) are pushing teams to write clear plans again—“specs”—because robots hate fuzzy instructions. One commenter slammed the coffin shut with “And good riddance too,” blaming bad planning and messy releases, not code, for most failures. Another clapped back that building fast and tweaking later still wins, basically whispering: “Agile never left.” Cue popcorn.
It’s Team Spec vs. Team Iterate, with the crowd split over whether writing detailed documents beats quickly shipping and learning. Fans of the essay cite the 2001 Agile Manifesto as feel‑good slogans, while old-school papers from the 1970s get treated like holy scrolls. The jokes flew: one user imagined an “AI Scrum Master” that “runs scrum ceremonies” and tracks team speed; another sighed that the “kids are going to invent agile again,” because tech always loops back. A chorus of “Absolutely awesome” praise met a snarky “hello agile, welcome back.” The mood? Chaotic, cathartic, and very online—part funeral, part reunion, with Agile both buried and resurrected in the comments.
Key Points
- •The article argues Agile is vaguely defined and often framed against Waterfall rather than offering concrete guidance.
- •Historical sources (Royce 1970; Bell & Thayer 1976) are cited to show iterative development and customer involvement predated Agile.
- •Royce’s recommendations included program design first, prototyping to refine requirements, and ongoing customer involvement.
- •The rise of LLMs has encouraged writing clearer specifications, as these models perform poorly with ambiguity.
- •The author advocates “Spec-Driven Development,” asserting comprehensive documentation can lead to working software.