The Lifecycle
The seven lifecycle stages as they change. Each carries the same structure: what changes, elements to adopt, controls at a Level 2 minimum and a Level 3 enforced state, and the evidence an auditor can request.
The seven stages, as they change. Each carries the same structure: what changes, elements to adopt, controls at a Level 2 minimum bar and a Level 3 enforced state, evidence an auditor can request, and failure modes.
Stage One — Planning
Business case, scope, feasibility, and resourcing with AI participation priced as an explicit input.
Stage Two — Requirements Analysis
Requirements precise enough for agents to build against and for oracles to test.
Stage Three — Design
How the system satisfies its requirements, and how it gets built, verified, and operated when agents write much of it.
Stage Four — Development and Implementation
The longest section: where the most controls bind and where the documented failures cluster.
Stage Five — Testing and Verification
Verification when much of the code was generated, some behavior is probabilistic, and volume exceeds conventional practice.
Stage Six — Deployment and Release
Auditable release: what shipped, who authorized it, what produced it, and rollback that works for behavior change.
Stage Seven — Operations and Maintenance
Operating a substantially generated system, with consumption-driven cost and accumulating comprehension debt.