I Didn't Become an AI Expert. I Became a Beginner Again.

What happens when a Test Engineer becomes a Software Engineer, then a Product Manager—and eventually starts experimenting with AI-driven software development?
In this talk, I’ll share my journey across three very different perspectives of software development and how each one changed the way I think about building products.
We’ll explore what Agile looks like from the trenches, how Product and Engineering teams evolve as organizations grow, what has worked, what hasn’t, and some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’ll also discuss the unique perspective a technical background brings to Product Management and how it can help bridge the gap between business, Product, Engineering, and QA.
From there, we’ll look at where things may be heading next: spec-driven development and AI-assisted software development with Claude. What is spec-driven development? Why does the quality of our specifications become even more important when AI is involved? And what happens when Product specifications begin to play a much more active role in driving implementation and validation?
This will be a practical, experience-based conversation rather than a prescription for how teams should work. I’ll share what I’ve learned, what I’m still figuring out, what I’m trying next, and resources for anyone who wants to explore these approaches themselves.
Topics will include:

• The journey from Test Engineer → Software Engineer → Product Manager
• Agile and how development teams evolve
• Lessons from approaches that worked—and those that didn’t
• Bridging Product, Engineering, and QA
• Spec-driven development: what it is and why it matters
• Claude and AI in the software development lifecycle
• What I’m experimenting with next
• Practical resources for getting started

About your speaker:
Noelle Tolve is a Product Manager with a technical background spanning software testing, software engineering, and product development. Her career began in Test Engineering, where she developed a strong foundation in quality, requirements, and understanding how software behaves in the real world. She later moved into Software Engineering, gaining hands-on experience building the systems she had previously tested, before transitioning into Product Management.
That journey has shaped her approach to Product: she brings an engineering mindset to understanding problems, collaborating with technical teams, defining requirements, and balancing customer needs with technical realities.
Today, she is particularly interested in how Product, Engineering, and AI are changing the way software is built. She is exploring spec-driven development and the use of Claude and other AI tools throughout the development lifecycle, with a focus on creating clearer specifications, improving collaboration, and helping teams move from ideas to reliable software more effectively.
She enjoys sharing the lessons, challenges, and experiments that come from working across the boundaries of Product, Engineering, and Quality.
My side career is in Search and Rescue since 2019, where I have been working for 5 years with my current canine Gracie and my pup Gabe.