Rule 1: people write epics and roadmaps. AI never does.
Words to know
- Epic. A big outcome for a whole product. It touches several parts of the product and takes weeks or months.
- Roadmap. The epics laid out in order over time.
- Milestone. A smaller slice of work with a date, usually inside one repository.
- Issue. One task. One agent can finish it in one change.
- Repository (repo). A folder of files with a full change history.
The four levels
| Level | Size | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Why the product exists | The human product owner |
| Epic | A whole-product outcome, weeks to months | The human epic manager |
| Milestone | A slice with a date, days to three weeks | A human sets the goal and date |
| Issue | One task, hours | An AI agent drafts and builds. A human approves. |
Higher levels need knowledge that is not in the code. Lower levels need clear instructions. AI is best at clear instructions.
Why AI must not write your epic
- It has not met your customer. It does not know what she said on the phone last week.
- It does not feel the market. It does not know a competitor launched yesterday.
- It sees one repo at a time. An epic crosses many.
- It never says “we should not build this”. It agrees too easily.
- It writes plausible, empty epics. “Improve engagement across the platform” sounds fine. Nobody can measure it.
- It forgets. Sessions end. You must be able to explain, three months later, why you chose this.
If the work needs knowledge that is not in the repo, a human must own it. Customers, markets, risk and priorities are never in the repo.
What AI may do
| AI may | AI may not |
|---|---|
| Explain a word you do not know | Decide who the customer is |
| Fix your spelling and grammar | Write the epic goal or the success measure |
| Check your epic for gaps and ask questions | Decide the order of the roadmap |
| Translate your text | Decide what the product is or is not |
| Summarise a long document | Invent personas, quotes or journey steps |
| Break a milestone that you wrote into issues | Approve its own work |
| Build the issues | Change the epic scope without you |
The test before you use AI
Ask: “Did I already decide this?” If yes, AI may format it, check it or translate it. If no, decide first. Think, then use the AI.
The five-question test
Ask these about any task. If you say yes to any one, a human owns the task.
- Does it need knowledge of a customer, a market or a competitor?
- Does it span more than one repo?
- Does it decide what to build, or what not to build?
- Does it set a priority that affects money or time?
- Will someone need to explain “why” in three months?
Allowed and not allowed
Allowed. You write notes in your own words. You ask: “Turn my notes into the epic template and list any gaps.” The AI asks, “Who pays, the cup owner or the café?” You answer.
Not allowed. You type: “Write the epic for a cup subscription.” You paste the smooth result into your project. Now nobody owns it.
How we check
Your epics live in git with full history. You explain each one out loud, without notes, to a coach. If you cannot explain it, it is not yet your epic.
Key points
- Humans write epics and roadmaps. AI builds issues.
- AI may draft, format, check, translate and ask questions. It may not decide.
- If you cannot explain it without notes, you do not own it yet.
