V&V methods for AI software must adapt to the kinds of development cycles that are practical for complex AI applications that evolve over time; yet V&V requires that each project have a well-defined development process that supports V&V activities. In this paper we introduce a four-dimensional meta-level model about software development processes. This model allows a wide range of software development processes that can be tailored to the unique characteristics of different AI projects—while still providing ways to evaluate the development process and to include the controls needed for V&V. The four dimensions of our model are the definition, formalization, operationality, and performance of the software system. Standard software documentation as well as other software products such as prototypes and formal specifications occur as points in this four-dimensional space, and verification and validation can then be modeled as mappings between points in this space. As software developments proceeds through this four-dimensional space there should be enough intermediate software products acting as waypoints so the development process can be verified and the final software product can be validated in relation to its current requirements.