Developing physical products—those that integrate hardware, software, and firmware—is uniquely challenging. Unlike software, physical products can’t be easily updated in the field. Teams must navigate long procurement lead times, high production costs, and multi-disciplinary collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, software, and procurement. Traditional Waterfall methods dominate because many Agile approaches, designed for software, fail to address these realities, leaving hardware teams stuck with inefficient, often chaotic processes.

The Modified Agile for Hardware Development (MAHD) Framework bridges this gap. MAHD adapts Agile principles to the constraints of physical product development, enabling organizations to achieve superior results by focusing on hardware-first strategies. Since 2017, MAHD has been successfully implemented in 100+ hardware organizations, leading to competitive, technical, and organizational success.

About the Speakers:

Vishal Sheth is a seasoned business transformation and Agile efficiency expert, with a proven track record in driving organizational peak performance. He ran PMO organizations at VISA and Thermo Fisher Scientific, enabling large, global teams to deliver a portfolio of industry-leading solutions driven by streamlined processes adapted to those organizations.

Dorian Simpson is an accomplished product development expert and creator of the Modified Agile for Hardware Development (MAHD) Framework. With over 25 years of expertise in engineering and business leadership, Simpson has played a pivotal role in integrating Agile methodologies into hardware development to align Agile practices with strategic business goals.

Agile New England’s Monthly Keynote Speaker is Virtual!

Please note our March 2025, keynote will be fully virtual with no in-person meeting. The new timeline follows:

5:30 – 6:30 pm ET – Agile 101 breakout with Garry Miller (or network in main Zoom session)

6:30 – 8:00 pm ET – Keynote Speaker, followed by announcements and free-form networking