In our first session, we looked at why so many Agile transformations have stumbled, and why the same mistakes are now showing up again with AI. This month, Seán González continues the story of Agile for AI with evidence.

It started with copying and pasting between two AIs. The combined work was consistently better than anything one AI, or Seán, produced alone. That is the same reason cross-functional Agile teams outperform individual heroes: different strengths, different perspectives, and teammates who catch each other’s blind spots.

From there, one small improvement at a time, a manual workaround became a browser extension, then a desktop app, and eventually a platform of almost half a million lines of AI-written code, with close to a million across all the work. One non-programmer guides it, acting as Product Owner and Architect.

If you work in product management or agile coaching, this session shows why your skills matter more in the age of AI, not less.

About Seán:

Seán González is an Enterprise Agile Coach, the founder and CEO of AIBizAgility, President of Agile New England, and a former Senior Director of IT. Over the past two years, working as a non-developer, he has built a multi-AI orchestration platform from scratch with Claude, ChatGPT, and other frontier models. Through a disciplined human and AI practice, the codebase has reached roughly a quarter-million lines and remains stable, which most AI-built software struggles to achieve at that scale. His research has produced reliable, structured sessions where he and several AIs reach consensus to solve problems together. His conclusion comes from that hands-on work: the values and principles that make human teams effective also make human and AI collaboration effective, and AI magnifies their impact. He is writing a book that connects Agile, ancient philosophy, and AI, and he is the CEO of Kurukulla Center, where he leads introductory Buddhism classes.

How do we turn strategy into valuable products and services? Coordinate work across teams without creating more delays? Build quality in, respond to changing needs, and help people become more capable? People know many of the answers, but unfortunately, that knowledge is scattered across multiple disciplines, books, frameworks, and individual experiences.

Sonesis is an integrated approach to organizational improvement and capability development. It brings together accumulated knowledge from systems thinking, Lean, Theory of Constraints, and other fields to help leaders, product and engineering practitioners, and coaches understand their situations and choose appropriate practices. Sonesis enables teams to address challenges such as aligning work with stakeholder objectives, reducing dependencies and rework, organizing teams around value creation, and helping people learn and adapt together.

This talk introduces Sonesis through practical examples. We will explore how to recognize key concerns, understand the system producing them, identify the capabilities needed to address them, and choose next steps. We will also explore how this analysis opens the door to leveraging Sonesis/AI: a tool providing guided assistance, relevant knowledge, and alternative responses to current challenges.

You will leave knowing:

• What Sonesis is, who it serves, and the organizational challenges it addresses
• How to connect challenges with capabilities and practices appropriate to your situation
• How AI can provide your teams with relevant options while developing their own judgment and capabilities

About the Speaker:

Alan Shalloway is a thought leader in using AI to deliver better training, consulting, and coaching more effectively and at a significantly lower cost than previously available. He is the founder and CEO of Success Engineering. Al is a recognized thought leader in Lean, Disciplined Agile, SAFe, Kanban, Scrum, design patterns, Acceptance Test-Driven Development, lean management, value creation networks, Lean product management, and more.

Al attended  “Snowbird 10”, the tenth-anniversary meeting of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. He is the creator of the FLEX system, which is the heart of the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop. He has co-written seven books ranging from Design Patterns to Agile at Scale. He is an international speaker. He is a former SPC Trainer and contributor to SAFe. His current focus is on providing affordable learning experiences to individuals and organizations which includes helping internal change agents be self-sufficient in training their teams in a cost-effective manner.

Agile New England’s Monthly Keynote Speaker is Virtual!

Please note our 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

For years, I wanted to build a software tool that would make the invisible visible. By showing executives and CFOs how a few well-chosen adjustments to organizational practices could speed up product development and cut costs, it would drive steady revenue and profit gains. But the idea languished, because building the tool was beyond my capabilities and budget.

Until AI changed what was possible. Eight days after starting, I was using my Purple Checkup software in conversations with customers. I showed them exactly how much addressing challenges such as slow delivery, competing priorities, and overloaded teams might improve cost, capacity, revenue, and ROI. With their knowledge and the tool, we could quantify the value of agility for their organization.

Fast development with AI makes agile thinking more important than ever. In this session, I’ll share how I used AI to turn an idea into a working tool in eight days, how agile methods helped me shape it, and why I’m keeping some well-known AI products and firing others. We’ll also discuss what it means for developers, coaches, leaders, and managers when AI shrinks the distance between “I want” and “I have.”

About the Speaker:

Peter B. Stevens helps leaders close the gap between vision and execution. His career path includes software development work at Microsoft, FIFA, and the Swiss Stock Exchange, years teaching Scrum, and experience advising leaders on change and innovation. Recently, he returned to development and used AI to build the Purple Checkup, which connects organizational fitness with business results.

Agile New England’s Monthly Guest Speaker is Virtual!

Please note the presentation will be fully virtual with no in-person meeting. The new timeline follows:

Nov 5, 2026, 12:30 – 1:30 pm ET (17:30 – 18:30 UTC) – Guest Speaker, followed by announcements and free-form networking

What happens when collaborative development meets artificial intelligence? This session will explore how Software Teaming and AI can complement each other to amplify learning, improve outcomes, and strengthen team alignment.

You’ll see how teamwork is a powerful and effective way to create software, and how working with AI as a team compliments teamwork. We think of this as AI-assisted teaming – which can include everything we do from ideation to deployment and beyond. We’ll share what has worked, what hasn’t, and how to keep humans at the center of collaboration.

If you’re curious about Software Teaming (also known as Mob or Ensemble Programming) or if you’re experimenting with AI tools, you’ll see practical ways to integrate both without losing the magic of thinking together.

About the Speakers:

Woody Zuill is an Agile and Lean Software Development guide who has been programming computers for over 40 years. He is an originator and pioneer of the Software Teaming (Mob Programming) approach to teamwork in software development. He has spoken frequently at Agile New England meetings and played a leading role in organizing and delivering our Agile Games conferences.

James Herr is a software engineer passionate about AI, Claude Code, and collaborative ways of working. He advocates for Ensemble/Mob Programming and enjoys experimenting with how AI can help teams build, learn, and think together. Outside of work, he’s a game developer and game jam organizer who uses game development as a playground for new ideas.

AI is evolving from a productivity tool into an intelligent collaborator, transforming how organizations create products, make decisions, and deliver value. As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, Agile teams are entering a new era where roles, collaboration models, and ways of working are evolving.

The question is no longer whether AI will impact Agile—but how Agile itself evolves to thrive in the AI-native enterprise.

This session will explore the opportunities and challenges organizations face as they integrate AI into their ways of working, including the evolution of Agile teams, human-AI collaboration, responsible AI adoption, and the growing importance of governance, security, and compliance.

Join this thought-provoking discussion to gain strategic perspectives on preparing Agile teams, leaders, and organizations for the next evolution of agility in an AI-driven world.

About the Speaker:

Rama Nandiwada Chivakula is a strategic, data-driven product leader, entrepreneur, strategist, and thought leader.  She currently helps organizations with business strategy, platform implementation, digital and AI transformation, and Agile evolution while navigating change through human-AI collaboration, governance, and responsible adoption. As an entrepreneur, Rama has led global cross-functional teams, launched more than 15 SaaS platforms, and delivered over 20 B2B and B2C products across retail, supply chain, MarTech, Fintech, HR, life sciences, legal, and cloud-based enterprise platforms. She connects technical innovation, people, and business value to create impactful platforms and strategic outcomes.

Agile New England’s Monthly Keynote Speaker is Virtual!

Please note our 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

Tired of the administrative tasks that just feel like overhead? Move beyond basic chatting and learn to build custom AI assistants that help with your everyday workload. In this interactive workshop, we will explore how any business team—from software and product to marketing and operations—can use AI as a practical team collaborator.

Through hands-on exercises, you will design specialized AI assistants to instantly turn raw whiteboard sessions into structured backlogs, generate fresh retrospectives, and transform unstructured meeting data into measurable continuous improvement goals. Discover how to offload low-value tasks to AI so you can reclaim your time for what matters most: coaching, collaborating, and delivering human-centric value.

About the speaker

Erica Maguire  is Director of Planning and Strategic Initiatives in Risk and Compliance at WEX, a large financial tech company. There, she leads critical initiatives, including an AI governance task force and cross-functional AI functional redesigns. Erica first discovered Agile in marketing, and after quickly seeing its power has spent nearly a decade leading teams of Scrum Masters supporting software and business teams. A passionate facilitator, she specializes in Open Space meetings and  for several years has hosted Agile Maine Open Spaces. Across all domains, Erica leverages Agile values as a universal framework to eliminate overhead, steer strategy, and get things done.

Agile New England’s Monthly Keynote Speaker is Virtual!

THIS MONTH ONLY – MEETING IS ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 8 (Not Thursday)!

Please note our 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

Rama Nandiwada Chivakula is an Agile Product Leader, Strategist, and Entrepreneur with an MBA in Entrepreneurship & HR from Babson and a Master’s in Computer Science. She provides coaching and consulting in Agile, AI Adoption, Product Strategy, Innovation, Data-Driven Growth Strategy, Lean Startups, Change Management, and Conscious Leadership.

As a Tech Entrepreneur and early Agile adopter, she has launched eight SaaS platforms using Agile methodologies, adapting tech trends of  SaaS, Cloud-Native, and Mobile-First architectures.  She incubated and scaled startups  successfully as well as implemented platforms for global organizations like EMC, Dell, Oracle, & Takeda with data driven decisions. Her experience spans across Retail, MarTech, Fintech, Human Resources, Legal, Life Sciences, Digital Industries, Automation, and Complex System Integrations.

Rama brings an Agile mindset to enhance delivery, return, productivity, collaboration, and retention through human-centric agile practices.  Rama has built Agile teams from scratch, implemented hybrid delivery models (Waterfall, Agile, SAFe) in regulated environments, and led global cross-functional teams across distributed time zones. She has also guided MNCs through Agile transformation and enterprise change across mergers, acquisitions, migrations, and large-scale technology transitions, including AI Adoption.

Rama has also founded and led non-profits with experience in fundraising, events, community engagement, and long-term corporate relationships and sponsorships.

As ANE member and volunteer for over two decades since the Agile Bazaar days and early Agile Boston conferences, she seeks to contribute to ANE’s strategic growth in the AI era while advancing its Agile mission. You can see Rama’s LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rama-nandiwada-chivakula/

John Vins is a hands-on manager with extensive experience leading project teams, field operations, software support, and engineering groups. He is recognized as a team builder and motivator with a track record of improving efficiency, increasing revenue, and delivering results — and as a tenacious troubleshooter who stays with a problem until it’s resolved.

He has been an active volunteer with Agile New England since 2011, taking on progressively senior roles across leadership, event management, and IT. From 2013–2015, he served as a Core Team Lead for Agile Games and Agile For Executives events, providing guidance and collaboration across all planning and coordination. As Product Owner for Agile Games 2015, he oversaw the budget and pricing structure, program and speakers, sponsor recruitment, website design, and volunteers. From 2015–2017, he served on the ANE Board in Secretary and Vice President roles.

John has supported ANE’s IT infrastructure as a system administrator for the past 14 years — building and maintaining websites, managing domain names, administering mail lists and web hosting tools, and providing technical guidance to members. For the past 5 years has served as IT Team Lead, directing and mentoring volunteers while continuing a major role in infrastructure and web services.

Nancy van Schooenderwoert is an independent Agile Coach and past president of Agile New England. She has been an Electronics & Software Engineer for medical, aerospace, Industrial & defense applications; among the first to apply Agile methods to embedded systems work. Nancy has been coaching Agile teams and managers since 1998. She is a regular presenter at Agile-related conferences worldwide, and is co-author of the 2021 book “Agile Methods for Safety-Critical Systems: Case Studies of Medical Product Companies.”

Alexander Hilton is an accomplished AI & Analytics Strategist and Agile Coach with a rich background in web design, project coordination, and consulting on TOC/Lean practices. After earning a degree in data analytics, focusing on AI and machine learning, Alex successfully implemented solutions that enhance operational efficiency, decision-making, and innovation.

Currently serving as an Agile Change Agent at a FTSE 100 organization, Alex is deeply committed to driving organizational potential through AI-driven insights and an Agile mindset. My work in Enterprise Agile transformations focuses on kaizen, empowering individuals to maximize their potential. With an MBA in finance, Alex actively supports the growth of others and share my expertise at international Agile events, including the Global Scrum Gathering. Alex is dedicated to the Agile values of collaboration and continuous improvement, aiming to unlock the potential of individuals, teams, and organizations.