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Formal Verification in Spec-Driven Development — Enterprise Level
In regulated enterprise, a specification becomes an executable contract. Why AI-generated code must be proven with formal methods, not just tested.
Your AI-generated code passed every test. In a regulated bank, that doesn’t mean it’s correct — it means you haven’t checked it where it will break. Green CI lights give comfort that a financial auditor won’t buy.
At enterprise scale, a specification stops being a descriptive document. It becomes an executable contract — a versioned artifact with conditions the code must satisfy. An AI agent must fulfill that contract, because no auditor will accept “tests passed” as proof of compliance.
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about a gap in spec-driven development — most teams write a spec but don’t code it into enforceable tests. That’s a fair diagnosis and a good starting point. But at the level of a regulated enterprise, that gap goes much deeper.
Over the next 10 minutes, you’ll see what separates a proof from a test, which tools from the rigor ladder apply to which problem, and how to build a roadmap you can defend before a regulator — without a PhD in proof theory.
