How does a dev agency actually use AI to ship production software? In this episode of Even-Keeled, the Headway development team pulls back the curtain on their real AI workflows, the tools they're using daily, and why experienced developers are writing the best code of their careers right now.

Jon Kinney (CTO), Tim Gremore, and Dan Diemer talk through how they're helping clients leverage AI, what happens when vibe-coded apps need to go to production, and why convention over configuration gives frameworks like Ruby on Rails and Elixir a serious edge in the age of agentic development.

00:00 - How we help clients leverage AI 

03:30 - First AI deployment: a baseball coaching app 4:00 - Frontier models and secure data access 

05:09 - Design systems and agentic workflows 

06:00 - Figma MCP and filling the tooling gaps 

10:02 - Why AI gives different answers every time 

11:27 - What actually needs generative AI vs. traditional automation 

13:01 - Software spikes and controlling the slop factor 

16:01 - Why experienced devs are writing better code with AI 

17:23 - Convention over configuration as an AI advantage 

20:00 - Making vibe-coded apps production-ready 

25:23 - How clean code feeds the AI feedback loop 

27:10 - Dev tooling: Claude Code, TideWave, Beads, Pencil.dev 

30:08 - Figma to code and design system challenges 

32:40 - Claude Max plans, token limits, and pricing 

38:00 - Building your AI cyberdeck 

42:50 - "Code is cheap" and why taste matters now 

45:30 - How AI is changing project estimation

• How a product agency uses AI on real client projects
• Why LLMs are non-deterministic and what that means for enterprise software
• Claude Code, TideWave, Beads, Pencil.dev, and Open Code compared
• Figma MCP and design system integration with agentic workflows
• Ruby on Rails and Elixir as AI-friendly frameworks
• Making vibe-coded apps enterprise-grade
• Context windows, token efficiency, and the slop factor
• How AI changes software estimation and project scoping

### ABOUT EVEN-KEELED

Even-Keeled is a podcast about building software in the age of AI. From design systems and agentic workflows to vibe-coded apps and more, the development leadership team at Headway shares what's working, what's not, and what they're learning on real client projects. No hype. Just how the work gets done. New episodes monthly.

### ABOUT HEADWAY

Headway is a digital product agency building web and mobile apps for companies from startups to enterprise. Venture builders, not vendors.

🌐 Headway Website: [https://www.headway.io](https://www.headway.io)

📞 Book a Free Consultation: [https://www.headway.io/free-consultation](https://www.headway.io/free-consultation)