Skaffold empowers developers to hot-reload their infrastructure as code, shortening feedback loops until changes can be seen in production. This allows for shorter development cycles and faster deployment of features. Skaffold uses Kubernetes definitions, such as Docker Compose or Helm charts, to set up a functional development environment that mirrors the production setup. By using Skaffold, developers can automatically deploy and redeploy their infrastructure in response to code changes, making it easier to develop complex applications with changing infrastructure requirements.