- Understand what this course is and how it works
- Meet your instructor and your peers
- Set a baseline so you can measure your own growth by the end
CST395 · AI-Native Solution Engineering
Becoming an Architect
Your goal is Superagency. Your method is Symbiotic Thinking.
Each sprint, the problem gets harder and the person you're solving for gets further from your own experience. By the end, you'll have evidence that you can enter an unfamiliar domain, find a real problem, and build something that addresses it — using AI as a partner, not a crutch.
Computing Talent
Initiative
Initiative
Four sprints, four stakeholders, one story about becoming someone who can solve problems beyond their reach. Scaffolding falls away as your independence grows.
Sprint 1
Foundation
Superagency Over Self
You solve for: Yourself
Sprint 2
Mirror
Learning Through Others
You solve for: A close acquaintance
Sprint 3
Complexity
Navigating Ambiguity
You solve for: An external entity
Sprint 4
Mastery
Full Autonomy
You solve for: Your choice
Get StartedOrientation▸
What you'll get from this module
Start here. Everything else unlocks once you've set your baseline.
Sprint 1 · Week 1 — Orientation & Problem DiscoveryFoundation▸
What you'll be able to do
- Find a real problem in your own life that's worth solving
- Direct AI toward that problem instead of waiting for instructions
- See why the first answer to "why" is rarely the real problem
Builds on: your Get Started baseline. You're ready once you've set up and know what the course is asking of you.
S1: Productive Reflection #1Reflection
Compare your thinking with a peer — a second human read catches what self-reflection misses.
Submit in Canvas →Sprint 1 · Week 2 — Understanding Before BuildingFoundation▸
What you'll be able to do
- Trace a problem to its root cause instead of treating the symptom
- Turn that root cause into a deliberate solution architecture
- Reflect productively on how your own thinking is changing
Builds on: the problem you found in Week 1. The analysis only pays off once you have a real problem to dig into.
Sprint 1 · Week 3 — Strategic BuildingFoundation▸
What you'll be able to do
- Make design decisions on purpose and explain why you made them
- Go deep in a focused working session rather than skating the surface
- Build with intent — output you can defend, not just output
Builds on: your root-cause analysis and solution architecture from Week 2.
Sprint 1 · Week 4 — Reflection & Human ValueFoundation · Close▸
What you'll be able to do
- Show honest growth with evidence — not a polished highlight reel
- Name the human value in what you built
- Carry what you learned forward into Sprint 2
Sprint 2 · Week 1 — Partner DiscoveryMirror▸
What you'll be able to do
- Learn someone else's world before you build anything for them
- Set goals jointly with a partner you're solving for
- Replace guessing with real discovery
Sprint 2 · Week 2 — Discovery & Domain LearningMirror▸
What you'll be able to do
- Surface and test the assumptions you're carrying into the build
- Deepen your understanding of your partner's domain through discovery
- Combine partner insight with your own judgment
Builds on: the partner goals you set in Week 1. Discovery works once you know whose problem you're solving.
Sprint 2 · Week 3 — Building & IterationMirror▸
What you'll be able to do
- Plan a demo that proves value to your partner
- Build a learning plan for the domain you're working in
- Prepare to show work that someone else can judge
Builds on: your discovery and assumption-testing from Week 2.
Sprint 2 · Week 4 — Value Through Another's EyesMirror · Close▸
What you'll be able to do
- Ship a working prototype with a build log that shows your reasoning
- Be evaluated by the very person you built for
- See your value through someone else's eyes
Builds on: your demo design and domain learning plan from Week 3.
Sprint 3 · Week 1 — Entering Unfamiliar TerritoryComplexity▸
What you'll be able to do
- Enter a domain far from your own experience and get your bearings
- Stake a clear claim about what the real problem is
- Start a weekly rhythm of building and reflecting
Sprint 3 · Week 2 — Stakeholder Discovery Without AccessComplexity▸
What you'll be able to do
- Discover stakeholder needs even when you can't talk to them directly
- Defend your problem stake with evidence, out loud
- Ship a first build, then review it honestly
Sprint 3 · Week 3 — Simple Over SophisticatedComplexity · Close▸
What you'll be able to do
- Choose the simple solution that actually gets used over the clever one that doesn't
- Revise your plan based on what your build taught you
- Find value at the intersection of real need and what's feasible
Builds on: your first build and review from Week 2.
Sprint 4 · Week 1 — Goal-set + FoundationMastery▸
What you'll be able to do
- Set a specific, incremental four-week goal grounded in your Sprint 3 brief — and choose your path, solo or pair-merge
- Run the full solution cycle with the scaffolding mostly gone
- Start the honest capability audit: name what Symbiotic Thinking is and isn't, with your own Sprint 1–3 evidence
Builds on: your Sprint 3 Solution Brief — the goal you set here grows straight out of it.
Sprint 4 · Week 2 — Build + SDLMastery▸
What you'll be able to do
- Build toward your goal independently, directing your own learning
- Map your Sprint 1–3 evidence to the nine components of Self-Directed Learning, Integrative Solving, and Adaptive Benevolence
- Assemble the material you'll defend
Builds on: your goal statement and Symbiotic Thinking audit from Week 1.
Sprint 4 · Week 3 — Iterate + CapabilitiesMastery▸
What you'll be able to do
- Turn your evidence into a defense of your growth across the course
- Build your final presentation and rehearse it with peers
- Keep and hand in your build notebook
Builds on: your two framework pieces — they're the backbone of your defense.
Sprint 4 · Week 4 — DefendMastery · Close▸
What you'll be able to do
- Defend your portfolio out loud — "What can you do, and how do you know?"
- Show how your thinking changed from Sprint 1 to now, centered on Superagency and Human Value
- Document how you addressed your Sprint 4 goal
Builds on: your defense prep — everyone who hasn't yet presented defends this week.
Extra Credit & Course CloseOptional▸
What you'll get from this module
- Close the loop on the course evaluation that measures your growth
- Look back across the whole semester to consolidate what you learned
- Earn credit by making your own growth visible and evidence-backed
Dr. Sathya Narayanan
snarayanan@csumb.edu · Schedule office hours · @profsathya on Slack