How GigSmart's Team Works with AI Using H·AI·K·U
H·AI·K·U was born at The Bushido Collective and is now owned and maintained by GigSmart. Here's how we use it — and why we took ownership.
By Jason Waldrip
Blog
News and updates about H·AI·K·U and structured human-AI collaboration.
Introducing H·AI·K·U: Why We Rebranded and What Changes
From AI-DLC to H·AI·K·U — a methodology evolution from software-specific lifecycle to domain-agnostic work orchestration.
By GigSmart
The Agnostic Builder
When AI handles implementation, the value of a human shifts from domain expertise to systems thinking. The agnostic builder doesn't specialize — they see the whole board.
By GigSmart
Design as a First-Class Concern
H·AI·K·U now includes a design direction system and persistent project knowledge layer, making visual design and domain understanding part of the methodology — not an afterthought.
By GigSmart
Design Providers and Knowledge Synthesis
H·AI·K·U gains first-class integration with six design tools and a persistent knowledge system that gives agents institutional memory across features.
By GigSmart
First-Class Passes
H·AI·K·U now supports typed iteration through disciplinary lenses — design, product, dev — where each pass shapes how hats behave and which workflows are available.
By GigSmart
Quick Mode and Autopilot
Two new operating modes for H·AI·K·U — quick mode for trivial tasks with full hat discipline, and autopilot for autonomous feature delivery with strategic human checkpoints.
By GigSmart
Adopting Existing Features
H·AI·K·U now supports reverse-engineering existing codebases into structured intent artifacts, enabling brownfield systems to participate in the full lifecycle.
By GigSmart
H·AI·K·U Is a Harness
Anthropic's engineering blog defines 'harness' as orchestration scaffolding for long-running AI agent work. H·AI·K·U fits that definition — and extends it.
By GigSmart
Dark Factories and the Loop
The dark factory isn't a system you build. It's a knob you turn. H·AI·K·U treats full autonomy as a point-in-time decision, not an architectural commitment.
By GigSmart
H·AI·K·U Meets Agent Teams
H·AI·K·U's construction loop now leverages Claude Code's Agent Teams, turning each unit of work into an independent teammate with its own context, worktree, and permission model.
By GigSmart
Introducing H·AI·K·U
A methodology for iterative AI-driven development with hat-based workflows
By GigSmart