2024 Speakers
Adam Mattis
Future Transformation Consultant
Adam Mattis focuses on helping organizations solve hard problems, build cool stuff, and create engaging workplaces. He dedicates his time to ensuring organizations stay relevant by bridging the gap between products and the technology driving them. How? By modularizing both business and technical
architectures, refining value streams, aligning products, and re-envisioning the experiences of employees and their customers. Adam is a SAFe Fellow, SPCT, and holds an MBA from Norwich University.
Adam is the brilliant mind behind two game-changing books: “Small Firm, Big Impact: A Guide to Growing Your Boutique Consulting Practice” and “Surviving Performance Reviews: Strategies for Bridging the Performance Management Divide for Those Who Are #BecomingAgile.” Adam’s wealth of expertise in consulting and agile realms makes his insights invaluable for professionals aiming to make waves in their industries. But that’s not all—Adam is also a prolific podcaster and blogger, sharing his wisdom far and wide!
Curious to learn more? Dive into Adam’s world at adammattis.com for a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration. And why stop there? Connect with Adam directly on LinkedIn to stay updated on his latest ventures and engage in thought-provoking discussions. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn from a true trailblazer – connect and follow Adam here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammattis/.
Asked by IBM in 1991 to create a new and modern methodology for the IBM Consulting Group, Dr. Alistair Cockburn started studying how teams succeed. His team was one of the few that succeeded with commercial object-technology projects in the mid-1990s. His book Surviving Object-Oriented Projects showed how they did that.
Continuing his research, including being special advisor to the Norwegian Central Bank in the late 1990s, Dr. Cockburn co-organized the event that changed the software industry, the writing of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development (http://agilemanifesto.org), generally just called the Agile Manifesto. He received his Dr. Philos. from the University of Oslo in 2003, the same year he organized the first Agile Development Conference.
Dr. Cockburn is considered the world’s leading expert on the requirements gathering and process description technique called “use cases”, with the best-selling book on the subject “Writing Effective Use Cases.” He created the widely used software design pattern “Hexagonal Architecture” (https://web.archive.org/web/20170606075805/http://alistair.cockburn.us/Hexagonal+architecture), in in passing, collected and documented dozens of project management patterns and strategies. His work these days is Organizational Psychology, studying ways to help organizations grow closer together.
Consolidating his studies in organizational psychology and re-uniting the agile movement, Dr. Cockburn created the Heart of Agile, which consists of only four words: Collaborate. Deliver. Reflect. Improve. (https://heartofagile.com). His current work is to help organizations of any type or specialty take advantage of what has been learned over the last decades.
Art Pittman is a leadership coach, experienced teacher, and professional facilitator. He believes better humans make better leaders so his mission in life is to help people think, feel, and act more human at work. He has
over 25 years of experience working in the IT sector but thinks the dirty little secret of IT is that it’s all about people, not computers (after all, people do the work and computers just take orders.)
He is a master certified coach with ICF, a certified agile coach with ICAgile, and is certified to use a variety of 360 assessments and psychometric instruments. He has a passion for books especially those having to do with coaching or leadership or professional development. His current favorite authors are Brene Brown, Adam Grant, Simon Sinek, and Mark Greaney (yes, he likes mysteries too.).
Bob Galen
Director of Agile Practices, Zenergy Technologies
Bob Galen is an Agile Practitioner, Trainer & Coach based in Cary, NC. In this role he helps guide companies and teams in their pragmatic adoption and organizational shift towards agile methods of working. Bob has been doing that
since the late 1990s, so he’s deeply experienced.
He is the Director of Agile Practice at Zenergy Technologies, a leading business agility transformation company. Bob is also President and Head Coach at Agile Moose, a boutique agile coaching firm. He is a Scrum Alliance Certified
Enterprise Coach Emeritus (CECem), an iCAgile authorized trainer, and an active member of the Agile Alliance.
He’s published four agile-centric books: The Three Pillars of Agile Quality and Testing in 2015, Scrum Product Ownership, 3’rd Edition in 2019, and Agile Reflections in 2012, and Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching in 2022. He’s also a prolific writer & blogger (at – www.rgalen.com and www.agile-moose.com) and podcaster (at www.meta-cast.com )
Connect with Bob here – http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobgalen
Bryan Miles is a coach passionate about helping people and teams discover and maximize their potential and impact. He believes successful teams rely on peak-performing individuals, effective coaching, and great leadership. Bryan has focused his career on developing high value teams, first as a musician and conductor working with young students, now working with leaders, executive teams, and organizations by helping them move the progress needle a little bit every day. Bryan has experience as an Organization and Relationship Systems Certified (ORSCC) coach, agile coach, integral facilitator, and trainer. He is an international Coach Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and is a Leadership Decision Making Assessment (LDMA) facilitator through Lectica, Inc. Bryan is a frequent presenter at conferences and events around the US and loves to bring his interest in music, leadership, and agile together in his presentations.
Carrie Driscoll
Founder & President, Reef Consulting
With over two decades of experience in Agile coaching, project management, and change management, I co-founded Reef Consulting to help organizations achieve quality, speed, growth, scalability, and innovation. As the president of Reef Consulting, I lead a team of agile experts who provide executive coaching, strategic guidance, digital transformation, and change management to fortune 100 clients across various industries.
I hold multiple certifications in agile methodologies, including Scrum@Scale, Scaled Agile Framework Program Consultant (SPC), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), and ICAgile Certified Practitioner (ICP). I am passionate about empowering
high performing teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and delivering value to customers and stakeholders. I also enjoy sharing my insights and best practices as an entrepreneur, speaker, and mentor in the Agile community.
Carol McEwan
Obeya Ambassador,
Strategic Advisor
With over two decades of experience in Agile coaching, project management, and change management, Carrie Driscoll co-founded Reef Consulting to help organizations achieve quality, speed, growth, scalability, and innovation. As the president of Reef Consulting, Carrie leads a team of agile experts who provide executive coaching, strategic guidance, digital transformation, and change management to fortune 100 clients across various industries.
Carrie holds multiple certifications in agile methodologies, including Scrum@Scale, Scaled Agile Framework Program Consultant (SPC), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), and ICAgile Certified Practitioner (ICP). Carrie is passionate about empowering high performing teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and delivering value to customers and stakeholders. Carrie also enjoys sharing my insights and best practices as an entrepreneur, speaker, and mentor in the Agile community.
Carol McEwan, an Agility Advisor, has been passionately immersed in the Agile Community for many years and has held roles such as Managing Director at Scrum Alliance, VP of Community at Scaled Agile, and CEO at Scrum@Scale. Her career took a pivotal turn when she recognized that integrating ecosystems thinking is crucial for achieving true business agility. This insight led her to iObeya where her work focused on empowering organizations globally to embrace ecosystems thinking through a transformative approach to Visual Management and Collaboration. Carol sees this as instrumental in fostering cultures of continuous improvement and innovation and building agile organizations.
Known as “Community Carol,” her journey is not just marked by titles but by this continuous quest for innovation, a quest that earned her a nomination to LIA 100, a global initiative recognizing women’s significant impact in Lean and Agile. Through her work, Carol aims to empower organizations globally, turning her passion into a catalyst for change and to be a thought leader in the charge for evolving the world of business agility.
Catherine Louis
Founder -CLL-Group, LLC and Co-founder-#PoDojo Product Owner Dojo
Catherine Louis is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, independent Agile coach, and founder of CLL-Group.com. With over 20 years of experience in complex product development in both software & hardware, she has led Agile transition efforts in top telecommunications firms and worked with North Carolina State University to conduct research on Agile Test-Driven development. She has conducted years of research and training on “building security in” verifying that security protection mechanisms are in place before it’s too late. Her current focus is on training leaders to effectively lead Agile transformation with a true Agile heart and mindset. Catherine is a member of the Agile Alliance, founding member of TechLadies® and runs AgileRTP, one of the largest meetup groups in the US.
David is an agile, executive, and leadership coach with a background as a technology leader. David partners with executives, leaders, individuals, and teams to help them uncover their greatest challenges and opportunities and through thought-provoking coaching helps them discover how best to move forward using agile and lean principles. He’s worked in the areas of FinTech, Marketing Operations, and eProcurement.
He is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach and uses awareness of strengths to help leaders, teams, and individuals achieve greater success
He is a frequent conference speaker and has spoken at Agile Alliance, TriAgile, TSQA and Southern Fried Agile on topics of invitation, influence, engaging developers in an agile transformation, simplicity in design and effective production support for agile teams. A few years back he published an experience report for Agile Alliance on his journey from developer to coach. He writes at dfrink.com.
David Horowitz
CEO at Retrium, Co-author of the second edition of Agile Retrospectives
David Horowitz is co-founder and CEO of Retrium. Retrium is the world’s leading enterprise-ready platform for agile retrospectives. He is also a co-author on the forthcoming 2nd Edition of the best selling book, Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (with Diana Larsen and Esther Derby).
Prior to co-founding Retrium, David spent nearly a decade between The World Bank and International Finance Corporation as a software developer turned Agile coach. While there, he experienced firsthand the importance — and difficulty — of effective retrospectives at scale.
In addition to Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Economics from The University of Maryland, David has a Master’s degree in Technology Management from The University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School of Business. In 2013, he successfully founded and exited a movie search engine business.
David is married to his college sweetheart and is the father of four little ones.
Dean Peters
Product Management Trainer
Dean Peters is a principal consultant and trainer at ProductSide, leading classes in Agile Product Management, AI Innovation, and Digital Product Management. With nearly 20 years in product and 10 in software development, he has driven user-centric innovation from startups to enterprises across healthcare, energy, education, law enforcement, and news media – focusing on AI, NLP, and mobile tech advancements.
As the unofficial zookeeper of the “Dangerous Animals of Product Management,” Dean has shared deep agile and product insights at industry events like Pendomonium, Red Hat Agile Day, ProductCamp, and ProductTank. His expertise in integrating generative AI into Agile has established him as a thought leader in leveraging tools like Bard and Claude for product strategy.
Holding a M.S. in Computer Science and B.A. in Communication, Dean is dedicated to empowering the next generation of product managers with the skills needed to navigate the complex, rapidly changing digital landscape.
Diane O’Connell
Workplace Reinvention Strategist
Diane O’Connell is an author, speaker, coach, workplace culture reinvention strategist, attorney and mediator. After being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Diane left the practice of law to focus on why creating a workplace culture of wellbeing is so elusive, and how workplace wellbeing initiatives are generally inadequate, as they don’t address the core issue of how to create a culture of wellbeing that is effective for individual staff and has measurable results for the business.
Diane is on a mission to annihilate the belief that mental health, wellbeing and belonging are “soft” topics by demonstrating the business case that will empower business leaders to realize measurable successes that reduce risk, improve profitability, and provide results that can be clearly reported for ESG, CSR & DEI purposes.
By combining her experience as an attorney and leader in international business development risk management, and an individual who has endured toxic work environments, Diane’s commercial and practical approach to workplace wellbeing generates results for businesses while making employees more productive & happier.
Eithan is currently a Junior at Thales Academy High School in Apex, North Carolina. He recently attended the Agile Alliance conference in Amsterdam gaining a greater understanding of the agile space. He is a member of the speech and debate association, model United Nations, and student council with public speaking experience in all. He studies philosophy, logic, Latin, and the other classical skills at his school, and has for the past six years. In the future, Eithan hopes to go into the international business sector, with a passion for networking, negotiation, travel, and creating a positive impact on the world.
Coaching Style
Frank believes we gain new awareness by challenging assumptions and limiting beliefs. He uses experimentation to accelerate growth and gain feedback quickly. Frank is a creative thinker who loves to partner with Participants to go
beyond what is currently thought possible.
Coaching Experience
Frank’s focus is to help people grow their leadership skills, to better serve their teams and the organization. Frank has worked in many different industries at all levels of leadership to help Participants grow in emotional intelligence
and create cross-functional teams that work across complex organizations. Most of his coaching is with Participants in technical and engineering roles. He has worked with start-ups and very large organizations, and everything in
between helping individual leaders navigate change.
Life before Coaching
For 30 years, Frank led projects and programs around the world for clients such as the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Army, NASA, CA, CSC, GTE, and Mylan Pharmaceutical. He has worked across many different industries, including Oil &
Gas, Software, Healthcare, and Construction.
Frank began learning about high-performing teams while serving in the Navy on nuclear-powered submarines during the Cold War. There he experienced the effectiveness of high-performing teams and some of the leadership principles that
help build them.
Today, Frank speaks, coaches, and consults for individuals and companies on how to affect change using lean-agile thinking. Frank is a Certified Executive Coach, ICF PCC and holds a BSCIS and has done graduate work in Software Engineering.
Frank is the author of A.G.I.L.E. Thinking Demystified: Mindset over Mechanics and serval academic articles.
Frank has been married for 45 year and has 3 grown sons and 7 grandchildren and is president of Forte Leadership Technology, LLC.
George Champlin-Scharff, VP of Product at ZenHub, brings over 25 years of expertise in revolutionizing team productivity through the strategic use of innovative technologies. His experience extends from his tenure as a Senior Technical Staff Member in the IBM Watson AI Organization, where he played a critical role in transforming the organization’s operational model as it scaled from a small team to a global workforce of thousands. George is a staunch advocate for the potential of AI & automation to revolutionize the operations of teams everywhere. He is proving every day that it can save time, enhance data hygiene, streamline processes, and make Agile methodologies effortless.
Jardena is a Business Transformation Consultant, Author, Keynote Speaker.
Her award-winning book, “Cultivating Transformations: A Leader’s Guide to Connecting the Soulful and the Practical” has been described as “the book you buy and carry around with you everywhere.”
Jardena’s mission is to help organizations create soulful, productive and fun workplace environments that support organizational and cultural change together with improving financial results. Her work spans both nationally and globally to consult mid-size to Fortune 50 companies on Enterprise Business Agility with heart. Jardena’s diverse background of programming, project management, along with launching multiple startups, has created a dynamic lens through which she views the challenges that organizations face and helps them reach their productivity goals and create a more positive, healthier workplace environment.
Her most recent successes have been transforming a large legacy organization into a modern workplace with breakout results. She also speaks at corporate events and on stages worldwide on the positive effects of organizational transformation. Jardena has also served as co-founder and CEO of Rosetta Technology Group since 1997.
To learn more and how Jardena can help transform your company visit rosettaagile.com and jardenalondon.com.
As CEO of Applied Frameworks, my passion is helping individuals and businesses discover software development practices that enable them to achieve better results. Profit = sustainability, and every business is capable of implementing profitable, sustainable software solutions.
Over 18 years of progressive leadership and management experience in enterprise software, IT, and the military helped me develop a breakthrough profit framework that revolutionizes the way you think about planning profit.
You can tap into key insights from this framework in my book, Software Profit Streams, which I co-authored with Luke Hohmann.
Download the Profit Streams canvas, find the book, and learn more at https://profit-streams.com/ and https://appliedframeworks.com/
Jennifer is the Chief Delivery Officer at Acklen Avenue, one of Nashville’s leading custom development firms. Having served at every level of leadership since starting her career as a software developer, she has crafted a unique perspective that allows her to bring radical empathy and real-life work experience to those she leads and coaches.
Her passion is leading individuals, teams, and organizations to rediscover their “why” and reclaim the joy of working at their full potential.
Kari McLeod
Executive and Leadership Coach
I believe that agility, resilience, and vision live in leaders at all levels of organizations. I bring my wit, smarts, and love of connection to organizations that recognize their present and future rely on their own leaders, regardless their position on the org chart. Creating engaging virtual experiences, be they workshops, classes, and coaching and learning cohorts, is one of my superpowers.
Kim Andrikaitis
Business Agility Coach
An agile maestro with over 20 years in this space – from my humble graphic design days to software testing, product ownership, scrum mastery, and now coaching. My passion is injecting energy, coaching for awesomeness, and promoting a change mindset within the system. I thrive when collaborating, experimenting, and facilitating.
Leslie Hobbs has been practicing agility since 2012. First as a Product Owner, then as a Product Manage and now as a Product Transformation Coach.
She is passionate about collaborating, experimenting, and facilitating with teams to figure out the best customer problem to solve. Throughout her career she’s had a customer first focus – whether she was helping cotton farmers hedge their crop in the commodities market, engineers mine databases for financial and market data, patients navigate their online health records, doctors determining the best patient order for daily rounds, or facility management professionals managing world-wide corporate real estate portfolios, each user has a specific need that needs to be solved in a clear, easy to use, application or software package.
As a product coach she has a chance to encourage, listen, and frankly point out the elephant in the room as organizations and teams transform from old ways of working into new ways of deriving customer value.
I coach teams, leaders, and organizations through growth and change – overcoming obstacles and stuck patterns in how they work together to achieve success. As an experienced leader and entrepreneur in fast-paced technology and service organizations, I understand the importance of strong leadership with a focus on results and people. I believe that results are most effective and sustainable when they collaboratively leverage individuals to co-create and implement the desired change. This style of leadership builds the muscles of collaboration, influence, and inspiration over more traditional styles of command and control.
I believe that inside every person is a great leader just waiting to emerge. I challenge my clients to define and achieve their next level and help leaders to build collaborative teams that quickly move to action. I believe that great leadership springs from the intersection of authenticity, passion, and results: bring your whole self to work, do what you love, and make a difference – these are the leaders people want to follow!
Do you dare to be a great leader? What’s holding you back?
I specialize in coaching technical leaders and their teams. Specialties: Executive and Leadership Coaching, Team Coaching, Organizational Change Management, Organization Development, Facilitation, Facilitation Training, and Team Assessments
Matt is a former cartographer and software developer. He has over 25 years of experience building products, with the last 8 serving as an agile leader. A guide for the “Road 2 Mastery” program, he also co-trains several agile courses. He was even voted “Most likely to take on aliens…and win”. His passion is guiding people and teams in delivering value.
Matt Phillips is a seasoned Agile and Systems Coach with extensive experience in team coaching, executive coaching, and Agile transformation. Over the years, he has helped several organizations to transform their ineffective ways of working. He has also provided coaching to numerous executives and leaders, helping them to develop their leadership skills, align their vision, and build high-performance teams. Matt’s expertise in team dynamics and communication has allowed him to help organizations improve their collaboration, productivity, and overall effectiveness.
Michael Lloyd is the Creator of Dysfunction Mapping and founder of Honest Agile. He’s committed to improving the quality of agile practitioners by providing concrete tools to create meaningful change. He’s an expert in many tools and frameworks, but believes the key to success is in critical thinking and creativity, not just following rules.
Dynamic Product Management and Agility Leader, recognized for crafting and executing strategic plans, leading cross-functional teams, driving transformative change, and steering organizational success. Commitment to innovation is evident through the development of forward-thinking programs and the optimization of people and processes to accelerate value achievement and realization. Distinguished by a unique leadership style, blending a high-heart and human-centric approach with emotional intelligence—a customer-obsessed Product Leader who fosters creative collaborations and drives impactful change. With a diverse industry portfolio spanning retail, oil & gas, FMCG, and biopharma, demonstrating adaptability, versatility, and the ability to deliver results across varied environments, an ideal choice for evolutionary leadership.
Sonja Pemberton
NeuroConscious Strategist
With a career spanning over three decades, Sonja Pemberton is a dynamic catalyst for transformation within the corporate landscape. As an international speaker and NeuroConscious™ Strategist, Sonja brings a wealth of expertise, holding certifications in cutting-edge, brain-based methodologies and a master’s degree in organizational development and management. Throughout her distinguished career, she has been a guiding force for leaders at every level, spanning diverse industries and generations. From entrepreneurial startups to Fortune 100 companies, her unique ability to navigate the intricate paths of today’s workplace dynamics has garnered trust and recognition from C-suite leaders. Sonja’s passion continues to be assisting organizations to not only adapt but thrive in the face of inevitable change.
When she’s not speaking, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Greg, their three adult children, and the cutest, smartest, and most adorable grand dogs, Hendrix and Teddy!
Stacey Ackerman
Dynamic Marketing Leader
Stacey Ackerman is a leader in the Agile Marketing Space and a Managing Partner and VP of Marketing at NavigateAgile. She’s a global speaker and podcast presenter on how to improve marketing operations with Agile. For four years, Stacey has been a contributing writer and subject matter expert on Agile Marketing for MarTech, a marketing technology publication. She also writes on Agile leadership for the Forbes Coaches Council. Stacey is the co-creator of the Agile Marketing Navigator framework. For over a decade, she’s helped transform teams to Agile, working with clients such as Best Buy, MetLife, Blue Cross, Optum, Vizient, and Premier Inc. Stacey relocated to Cary from Minneapolis in 2018 with her husband and three children.
Stephanie Riccardino
Product Enablement Leader
My super power is communicating complex technology wins/strategies/needs in fun, innovative ways so anyone can understand the message. My sub-super powers are engagement and recognition. Work is WAY more fun for everyone when we feel appreciated, supported and connect to our work. Also, not to brag or anything but I do have mad soft skills yo.
Please reach out to me if you want to connect for any reason. Meeting and collaborating with diverse thought-leaders is what I love most.
And if you’re into stuff like this (like me), this will tell you so much about me:
Strength Finder: 1) Activator 2) Communicator 3) Woo 4) Maximizer 5) Arranger
Sybil Stewart is a keynote speaker, futurist, and business strategist. Throughout her career as a Global DEI Director, her thought leadership spanned almost 20 years in 10 countries, including the U.S. In her research and expertise in economics, she now talks about the six factors that will influence the future of work and how organizations can prepare to innovate and be agile through change. Sybil delivers research, lived experiences, and a little “sage” advice at every stage she stands on – from corporations to the women’s empowerment stage; audiences appreciate her intentional approach to managing culture and change. Her wit and sizzling messages inspire and ignite audiences, challenging them to think critically and move differently.
“Sybil helps audiences realize that the future of work is now.”
Ti Mougne is a seasoned Product Discovery and Agile Coach with over a decade of experience in steering people towards transformative shifts in their mindsets, behaviors, and operational methods. Her 13 years of coaching are underpinned by a profound knowledge of Product Management, Agile Methodologies, Curriculum and Program Design, Leadership, and Team Building.
She has a strong track record of working with a variety of organizations, from leading financial service companies to specialized electric utility research firms, helping them focus more on their customers and products. Presently, Ti occupies the role of Principal Business Agility Consultant at Turnberry Solutions, where she is leading a client engagement for a Fortune 500 e-commerce enterprise transitioning from a project-based to a product-oriented model.
Recognized for her ‘vertical’ facilitation skills and as a professionally accredited ICF coach, Ti champions the principles of reflective learning and the cultivation of deep, introspective connections with oneself and others. She believes these principles to be the foundational habits that precipitate meaningful and lasting change and heightened adaptability.
Ti lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, their 12-year-old son, and two outdoor-loving dogs, balancing a rewarding family life with her passion for helping businesses and people thrive.
The Agile movement has been a game changer in this digital age regarding how businesses can effectively and efficiently deliver value to their customers. Yvonne realized this early on, over 12 years ago, and transitioned her career to her newfound passion for agile coaching, and never turned back. Since then, Agile has been at the foundation of Yvonne’s consulting in helping people gain genuine excitement and engagement by working in new ways to deliver high-quality products that customers love. As a change agent, Yvonne specializes in coaching large, complex organizational transformations. Leveraging her scaled agility subject matter expertise, coupled with deep software engineering and quality background, Yvonne has led numerous companies in iteratively translating their vision into high-value, market-ready reality beloved by customers.
Yvonne holds many agile, scrum, quality, testing, and Kanban certifications and is a SAFe SPCT. She has spoken at conferences including Southern Fried Agile, RTP ALN, AgileRTP, Rally Software RallyON, NC PMI Agile, PMI Dallas Chapter & Houston Chapter, and ASQ. Connect with Yvonne at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonnekish/
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