Dear Architects podcast Architecture is BROKEN (It’s not the code but the communication)
Feb 17, 2026
Jacqui Read, author and trainer on software design and communication, brings practical frameworks and workshops to bridge tech and business. She explores iterative architecture, the risks of spec-driven waterfall returns with AI, the ACE model for alignment, living documentation and diagrams-as-code, and how to make technical work speak in business terms.
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Spec Driven Work Risks Becoming Waterfall
- Spec-driven approaches and some AI-assisted flows risk reintroducing waterfall thinking by assuming you won't revisit specs.
- Jacqui warns current spec-driven tools expect forward progress and don't expect iterative changes.
Diagnose Problems By Mapping Communication Patterns
- Focus on communication patterns, not blaming people, to diagnose architectural failures.
- Jacqui built her book from recurring issues like bad diagrams and ‘throw it over the wall’ handoffs that trace back to poor communication.
Use The ACE Model To Align Levels
- Use the ACE model: Context, Design, Architecture, Engineering at every organizational level to align decisions and feedback.
- Jacqui recommends doing enough design for enough architecture for enough engineering and let engineering feedback change upstream levels.
