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Home/Newsletter/System Design/Netflix-Scale System Design with AI: The Prompt-Led Approach

Netflix-Scale System Design with AI: The Prompt-Led Approach

How to design Netflix-scale systems using AI as your assistant, through a human-first, prompt-led framework called SCOPED.
17 min read
May 21, 2025
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With AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude at our fingertips, being able to leverage AI to design systems is a new non-negotiable for all developers.

AI is good at handling tasks of a small scope. But for large-scale systems, we need a more structured approach involving:

  • Breaking systems into smaller parts

  • Editing and stitching together AI outputs

This involves a new skill set that I call Prompt-Led System Design, wherein you stay in charge, define the goals, and steer the architecture, while AI streamlines your process with tactical outputs and edge-case considerations.

Traditional vs. prompt-led System Design
Traditional vs. prompt-led System Design

Using AI effectively in System Design requires core knowledge of System Design and a working grasp of AI (prompt engineering).

Today I'll share how you can use Prompt-Led System Design to design large-scale systems like Netflix with AI.

We'll cover:

  • What is Prompt-Led System Design?

  • SCOPED, a six-step framework for designing systems like Netflix with AI

  • A bonus hack I like to use for faster prototyping

Let's dive in.