AI Agents Enhance Software Design by Understanding Stakeholder Intentions

A multi-agent system, AlignMind, enhances foundation models with ‘Theory of Mind’ to refine stakeholder requirements for software development. Evaluation across 150 use cases demonstrates accurate capture of stakeholder intent, translating needs into both specifications and actionable workflows, improving software development outcomes.

The persistent challenge of translating stakeholder needs into functional software is being addressed through the application of artificial intelligence informed by cognitive science. Researchers are now exploring how large language models can move beyond simple task completion to genuinely understand intent during the crucial requirements refinement stage of software engineering. A team led by Keheliya Gallaba (Centre for Software Excellence, Huawei Canada), Ali Arabat and Mohammed Sayagh (École de Technologie Supérieure), alongside Ahmed E. Hassan (Queen’s University), and Dayi Lin (Centre for Software Excellence, Huawei Canada) detail their work in ‘Towards Conversational Development Environments: Using Theory-of-Mind and Multi-Agent Architectures for Requirements Refinement’. Their approach, utilising a multi-agent system called AlignMind, incorporates elements of ‘Theory of Mind’ – the ability to attribute mental states to others – to better interpret stakeholder desires and translate them into actionable software development workflows.

A new multi-agent system, AlignMind, demonstrably improves the capture of stakeholder requirements during software development, addressing a critical gap in current AI-assisted development. The system utilises Foundation Models (FMs) – large, pre-trained artificial intelligence models – augmented with ‘Theory of Mind’ capabilities, allowing it to model the beliefs, desires, and intentions of those defining the software’s needs. This contrasts with conventional methods which often struggle to accurately translate initial requests into precise specifications and actionable workflows.

AlignMind operates through a series of interacting agents, including expertise detectors which assess the user’s understanding of the domain, workflow generators that create initial action plans, and workflow refiners that modify these plans based on user feedback. The system iteratively clarifies requirements through this interaction, effectively bridging the gap between vague initial statements and actionable development tasks.

Evaluation across 150 diverse use cases reveals AlignMind’s ability to accurately capture stakeholder intent, articulating these intents both as formal specifications – detailed descriptions of what the software must do – and as step-by-step workflows outlining how to achieve the desired outcome. This dual output provides both clarity and a practical roadmap for development teams.

By modelling the cognitive states of stakeholders, AlignMind actively understands the underlying motivations and goals, resulting in requirements that are not only technically sound but also genuinely aligned with the needs of those who will ultimately use the software. This represents a move beyond simple task completion towards a system that understands why a task is requested, facilitating more effective collaboration between humans and AI in the software creation process.

Currently, much focus lies on utilising large language models for code generation, but this work distinguishes itself by concentrating on the often-neglected requirements refinement phase – the crucial stage following initial elicitation where ambiguities are resolved and a shared understanding is established. By prioritising this phase, AlignMind minimises the risk of developing software that fails to meet actual stakeholder needs, a common source of project failure and wasted resources.

The core innovation lies in the integration of Theory of Mind into the FM architecture, allowing AlignMind to move beyond simply processing requests. This establishes a foundation for intent-first development environments, where AI actively collaborates with software makers to deliver solutions aligned with genuine needs.

Future work should investigate the integration of AlignMind with existing software development tools and platforms. Exploring methods for automatically generating test cases from the refined requirements would further enhance the system’s utility, and investigating adapting the Theory of Mind architecture to accommodate multiple, potentially conflicting, stakeholder perspectives presents a significant challenge and opportunity.