H·AI·K·U
Human + AI Knowledge Unification
A lifecycle orchestration system for any structured work. Studios, stages, and quality gates — disciplined form, reliable results.
The 4-Phase Lifecycle
Every initiative follows four phases. Each phase has a distinct purpose and produces artifacts that feed the next.
Not Just for Software
H·AI·K·U is domain-agnostic. Studios customize the lifecycle for your field — software, marketing, operations, or anything structured.
Engineering
Application Development
Inception → Design → Product → Development → Operations → Security
Lifecycle for web, mobile, and desktop applications
Data Pipeline
Discovery → Extraction → Transformation → Validation → Deployment
Data engineering lifecycle for ETL pipelines, data warehouses, and analytics workflows
Documentation
Audit → Outline → Draft → Review → Publish
Technical documentation lifecycle for API docs, guides, runbooks, and knowledge bases
Game Development
Concept → Prototype → Production → Polish → Release
Lifecycle for games — concept, prototype, production, polish, ship
Hardware Development
Inception → Requirements → Design → Firmware → Validation → Manufacturing
Lifecycle for hardware products — electronics, firmware, manufacturing
Library Development
Inception → Development → Security → Release
Lifecycle for libraries, SDKs, and CLI tools
Security Assessment
Reconnaissance → Enumeration → Exploitation → Post Exploitation → Reporting
Security assessment and penetration testing lifecycle for evaluating existing systems
Go-to-Market
Customer Success
Onboarding → Adoption → Health Check → Expansion → Renewal
Customer success lifecycle from onboarding through adoption, health monitoring, expansion, and renewal
Marketing
Research → Strategy → Content → Launch → Measure
Marketing campaign lifecycle from audience research through launch and measurement
Sales
Research → Qualification → Proposal → Negotiation → Close
Sales lifecycle from prospect research through deal close and handoff
Operations
Incident Response
Triage → Investigate → Mitigate → Resolve → Postmortem
Incident response lifecycle from triage through investigation, mitigation, resolution, and postmortem
Migration
Assessment → Mapping → Migrate → Validation → Cutover
System and data migration lifecycle for platform transitions, version upgrades, and data moves
Project Management
Charter → Plan → Track → Report → Close
Project planning, execution tracking, and delivery lifecycle
Quality Assurance
Plan → Design Tests → Execute Tests → Analyze → Certify
Quality assurance and testing lifecycle for products and processes
Back Office
Compliance
Scope → Assess → Remediate → Document → Certify
Regulatory compliance lifecycle for audits, certifications, and policy management
Executive Strategy
Landscape → Options → Evaluate → Decide → Communicate
Executive decision-making and strategic planning lifecycle
Finance
Forecast → Budget → Analysis → Reporting → Close
Financial planning, budgeting, and analysis lifecycle
Hr
Requisition → Sourcing → Screening → Interview → Offer
Human resources lifecycle for hiring, onboarding, and talent management
Legal
Intake → Research → Draft → Review → Execute
Legal review and contract management lifecycle
Training
Needs Analysis → Design → Develop → Deliver → Evaluate
Training program design and delivery lifecycle
Vendor Management
Requirements → Evaluate → Negotiate → Onboard → Monitor
Vendor evaluation, procurement, and relationship management lifecycle
Built on Principles
Stages, not steps
Quality gates that reject non-conforming work, not prescribed procedures. Define what must be true, not how to get there.
Context engineering
Small, focused agents with relevant context outperform comprehensive agents with scattered information. Precision over volume.
Learning loops
Every initiative feeds learnings forward. Teams that use H·AI·K·U get better at using H·AI·K·U. Ad-hoc approaches never compound.
Human oversight at strategic moments
Supervised, observed, or autonomous — choose the right collaboration mode for the work. The human doesn't disappear; the human's function changes.
Latest Updates
All posts →Superpowers and H·AI·K·U
Jesse Vincent's Superpowers and H·AI·K·U look like the same kind of thing and aren't. A field report on where they overlap, where they genuinely differ, and what we're actually aiming for.
The Right Model for the Right Unit
Cascading model selection lets every unit pick the Claude model that fits its complexity — unit, hat, stage, studio, in that order. Cost goes down. Quality goes up. Both.
Libraries Don't Have a Design Phase
Splitting the one-size-fits-all software studio into four product-family lifecycles — and why forcing a library through a UX design sprint was telling us something we didn't want to hear.