How to Work with AI Coding Agents: Spec-Driven Development, Context and Loop Engineering, Workflows
This is the 1st workshop in our series to update the AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp content.
This workshop updates Module 1: AI-Native Developer Workflow.
In this hands-on session, Alexey Grigorev will show how to turn AI coding tools into a disciplined developer workflow.
You will see how to move from a vague idea to a concrete plan, use AI assistants for exploration and implementation, review generated code, test it, and keep enough context to understand what changed.
What You'll Learn
What "AI-native developer workflow" means in practice
How to compare chat assistants, terminal coding agents, agentic IDEs, cloud agents, and project bootstrappers
When to use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, Antigravity, Lovable, Bolt, Replit, and similar tools
How to practice context engineering with
AGENTS.md,CLAUDE.md, repository instructions, product specs, architecture notes, testing guidelines, and security checklistsHow to break a task into spec, context, plan, edit, run, test, inspect diff, review, and commit
How to use AI to understand an unfamiliar codebase
How to ask AI for code without outsourcing your engineering judgment
How to review generated code before accepting it
How to use tests as a guardrail for AI-assisted development
How to avoid tool-hopping during the cohort
How to decide when to ask AI, when to inspect manually, and when to simplify the task
By the end, you'll have a practical workflow for using AI developer tools in a way that helps you move faster while still understanding and maintaining the code.
Like the other workshops, this will be a live demo with practical tips and time for Q&A.
All Events in This Series
AI-Native Developer Workflow: Using AI Tools Without Losing Control
Coding Agent Capabilities: MCP, Skills, Plugins, and Custom Agents
Thinking About Joining AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp?
This workshop covers the updated content for Module 1 of AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp, our free course on using AI tools in practical software development workflows.
The course covers AI-assisted planning, coding, review, testing, coding agent capabilities, MCP, skills, plugins, security, audit, DevOps, and a complete final project.
The new cohort of AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp starts on August 31, 2026. You can join it by registering here.
About the Speaker
Alexey Grigorev is the Founder of DataTalks.Club and creator of the Zoomcamp series.
Alexey is a software and ML engineer with over 10 years in engineering and 6+ years in machine learning. He has deployed large-scale ML systems at companies like OLX Group and Simplaex, authored several technical books, including Machine Learning Bookcamp, and is a Kaggle Master with a 1st place finish in the NIPS'17 Criteo Challenge.
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