Agents Unleashed
Agents Unleashed is a podcast for curious change agents building the next generation of adaptive organizations — where people and AI learn, work, and evolve together.
Hosted by Mark Richards, Ali Hajou, Stephan Neck, and Nikolaos Kaintantzis, the show blends stories from the field with experiments in agility, leadership, and technology. We explore how work is changing — from agile teams to agentic ecosystems — through honest conversation, a dash of mischief, and the occasional metaphor that gets away from us.
We’re not selling frameworks or chasing hype. We’re practitioners figuring it out in real time — curious, hopeful, and sometimes hilariously wrong.
Join us as we unpack what it really means to be adaptive in a world where intelligent agents (human and otherwise) are rewriting the rules of change.
Episodes

7 days ago
7 days ago
“What the heck am I doing here? I’m just automating a shitty process with AI… it should be differently, it should bring me new ideas.” — Nikolaos Kaintantzis
Building AI Into the DNA of the Organization
In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, the hosts contrast the sluggish pace of traditional enterprises with the urgency and adaptability of what they call “extreme AI organizations.” The discussion moves through vivid metaphors of camels and eagles, stories from client work, and reflections on why most enterprise AI initiatives fail. At its core, the episode emphasizes a fundamental choice: will organizations bolt AI onto existing systems, or embed it deeply into the way they operate?
Mark Richards reflects on years of working with banks, insurers, and telcos — enterprises where patience is the coach’s most important skill. He contrasts this with small, AI-driven startups achieving more change in three months than a bank might in two years. Stephan Neck draws on analogies from cycling and Formula One, portraying extreme AI organizations as systems with real-time coordination, predictive analytics, and autonomous responses. Nikolaos Kaintantzis highlights the exponential speed of AI advancement, reminding us that excitement and fear walk together: miss the news for a week, and you risk falling behind.
Actionable Insights for Practitioners
1. Bake AI in, don’t bolt it on.Enterprises often rush to automate existing processes with AI, only to accelerate flawed work. True transformation comes when AI is designed into workflows from the start, creating entirely new ways of working rather than replicating old ones.
2. Treat data as a first-class citizen.Extreme AI organizations treat data as a living nervous system — continuous, autonomous, and central to decision-making. Clean, structured, and accessible data creates a reinforcing loop where the payoff for stewardship comes quickly.
3. Collapse planning horizons.Enterprises tied to 18-month or even quarterly cycles are instantly outdated in the world of AI. The pace of change demands lightweight, experiment-driven planning with rapid feedback and adjustment.
4. Build culture before capability.AI fluency is not just a tooling issue. Extreme AI organizations cultivate a mindset where employees regularly ask, “How could AI have helped me work smarter?” This culture of reflection and experimentation is more important than any single tool.
5. Keep humans in the loop — for judgment, not effort.The human role shifts from heavy lifting to guiding direction, evaluating options, and applying ethical oversight. Energy is conserved for judgment calls, while AI agents handle more of the execution load.
Conclusion
Enterprises may survive as camels, built for endurance in their chosen deserts, but the organizations that want to soar will need to transform into eagles. Strapping wings on a camel isn’t a strategy — it’s a spectacle. The path forward lies in embedding AI into the very DNA of the organization: data as fuel, culture as the engine, and humans providing the judgment that keeps the flight safe, ethical, and purposeful.

Monday Oct 06, 2025
Monday Oct 06, 2025
“Learning AI isn’t just about acquiring a new skill… it’s about unlocking the power to fundamentally reshape how our organizations work.” – Stephan Neck
In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, the hosts — Stephan, Mark, and Niko — share their personal AI learning journeys and reflect on what it means for practitioners and leaders to engage with this fast-evolving space.
They emphasize that learning AI isn’t only about technical skills — it’s a shift in mindset. Curiosity, humility, and experimentation are essential. From late-night “AI holes” to backlog strategies for learning, the discussion highlights both the excitement and overwhelm of navigating an exponential learning curve. The hosts also explore how to structure an AI learning roadmap with projects, fundamentals, and experiments. The episode closes with reflections on non-determinism in AI: its creative spark, its risks, and the reminder that “AI won’t replace you, but someone who masters AI will.”
Practitioner Insights
Anchor AI learning in real problems. Mark emphasized: “Have a problem you’re trying to solve… so that every time you go and learn something, you’re learning it so you can achieve that thing better.”
Treat AI as a sparring partner, not a servant. Niko showed how ChatGPT improved his writing in both German and English — not by doing the work for him, but by challenging him to refine and think differently.
Use a backlog to manage your AI learning journey. The hosts compared learning AI to managing a portfolio — prioritization, focus, and backlog management are key to avoiding overwhelm.
Don’t get stuck on hype or deep math too early. Both Niko and Mark stressed that experimentation and practical application matter more in the early stages than diving into theory or chasing hype cycles.
Practice humility and collaboration. Stephan underlined that acknowledging blind spots and working with peers who bring complementary strengths is critical for sustainable growth.
Conclusion
The AI learning journey is less about chasing the latest tools and more about reshaping how we think, collaborate, and experiment. For practitioners, leaders, and change agents, the real challenge is balancing curiosity with focus, hype with fundamentals, and individual learning with collective growth. As the hosts remind us, mastery doesn’t come from endlessly consuming content — it comes from applying AI thoughtfully, with humility, intent, and a willingness to learn in public.
By treating AI as a partner and structuring your learning with intent, you not only future-proof your skills but also strengthen your impact as a leader in the age of AI.

Monday Sep 29, 2025
Monday Sep 29, 2025
“If you're not thinking about an agent being a part of every conversation, something’s wrong with you.” – Mark Richards
Episode Summary
Season 3 of SPCs Unleashed opens with a subtle shift. While the podcast continues to serve the SAFe community, the crew is broadening the conversation to explore how AI is disrupting agile practices. In this kickoff, hosts Mark Richards, Niko Kaintantzis, Ali Hajou, and Stephan Neck take on a provocative question: what happens to user stories in a world of AI-generated prototypes, specs, and conversations?
The debate highlights tension between tradition and transformation. User stories have long anchored agile communication, but the panel asks if they still serve their purpose when AI can generate quality outputs faster than humans. Their conclusion: the form may change, but the intent — empathy, alignment, and feedback — remains essential.
Actionable Insights
AI exposes weaknesses.Most backlogs already contain poor-quality “stories” that are tasks in disguise. AI could multiply the problem if used lazily, but also raise the bar by forcing clarity.
Feedback speed is the game-changer.Tools like Replit, Lovable, and GPT-5 enable instant prototyping, turning vague ideas into testable experiments in hours.
From stories to executable briefs.Stephan notes prompts may become agile’s new “H1 tag”: precise instructions that orchestrate human–AI swarms.
Context and craftsmanship still matter.AI cannot intuit the problem space. Human product thinking — empathy, vision, and long-term orientation — remains vital.
User stories may fade, intent will not.Mark sees classic stories as obsolete, but clear communication and shared focus endure.
Conclusion
This episode signals a turning point: SPCs Unleashed is no longer just about scaling frameworks — it’s about confronting how AI reshapes agile fundamentals. The verdict? User stories may not survive intact, but the practices of fast feedback, empathy, and shared understanding are more important than ever. Coaches and leaders must now help teams integrate AI as a collaborator, not a crutch.

Thursday Sep 25, 2025
Thursday Sep 25, 2025
“At some point you’ve got to look at a set of risks and say, how do we feel about our overall stance?” — Mark Richards
In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, hosts Mark Richards, Niko Kaintantzis, and Stephan Neck unpack the complexity of risk management in SAFe. Too often, risk management is reduced to ROAMing during PI Planning. While useful, ROAMing is only a starting point. The discussion centers on the continuum — from identifying risks to shaping an organizational risk posture that balances ownership, experimentation, and resilience.
The hosts explore who owns risk, how unforeseen disruptions like COVID expose organizational resilience, and why AI both enables and complicates risk management. The message is clear: effective risk management requires more than visibility. It demands ownership, accountability, and a proactive stance across all levels of SAFe.
Actionable Insights
Think in terms of risk posture firstInstead of obsessing over individual risks, ask: What is our overall stance? This broader view helps leaders balance tradeoffs and set expectations.
ROAMing is only the beginningROAMing surfaces and socializes risks, but it does not ensure ownership, tracking, or mitigation. Treat it as examination, not management.
Shared responsibility, clear accountabilityRisk is everyone’s job, but accountability sits with roles like business owners, product managers, and RTEs to ensure protocols are in place.
Build resilience for the unforeseenEvents like COVID remind us that Lean-Agile ways of working prepare organizations to adapt faster. Investing in agility is investing in resilience.
AI is both a tool and a riskArtificial intelligence can enhance prediction and monitoring but also introduces new risks around bias, governance, and misuse.
Conclusion
Risk management in SAFe cannot stop at ROAMing. That practice creates visibility, but true effectiveness comes from moving along the continuum — toward a well-understood and actively managed risk posture. For SPCs, RTEs, and change leaders, the challenge is to foster transparency, ensure accountability, and guide organizations toward resilience.
In your next PI Planning, go beyond simply documenting risks. Ask what risk posture your teams and business owners are really taking — and ensure that stance is owned, shared, and actively managed.

Thursday Sep 25, 2025
Thursday Sep 25, 2025
“We’re unable to build an entire component within just two weeks… so the question becomes: what can we verify at the end of a sprint? It’s about finding the shortest path to your next learning.” — Ali Hajou
In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, the hosts dive into the newly released SAFe for Hardware course and use it as a springboard to explore agility in hardware more broadly. Ali Hajou, joined by Mark Richards, Stephan Neck, and Niko Kaintantzis, reflects on how Agile principles—originally inspired by hardware product development—are now circling back into engineering contexts. The group unpacks the unique challenges hardware teams face: aging technical workforces, specialized engineering disciplines, and long product lead times. Through personal stories and coaching insights, the hosts surface strategies for fostering collaboration across expertise boundaries, reframing iteration around learning, and adapting SAFe without forcing software recipes onto hardware environments.
Actionable Insights for Practitioners
1. Honor Agile’s hardware originsScrum was born from studies of hardware companies like Honda and 3M. Coaches can remind teams that agility is not a software-only mindset but a return to hardware’s own innovative roots.
2. Reframe what “shippable” meansHardware teams cannot produce finished machines every two weeks, but they can deliver learning increments through simulations, prototypes, and verifiable designs.
3. Lead with humilityAs Niko described, success comes from co-working with engineers rather than posturing as experts. Admitting limits builds trust and invites collaboration.
4. Shift the conversation to riskTalking about risk reduction resonates more strongly with hardware engineers than software-centric terms like story slicing. It reframes iteration as de-risking the next step.
5. Context matters more than recipesThe SAFe for Hardware training emphasizes co-creation. Rather than copying software playbooks, practitioners should tailor practices to local constraints, supply chains, and compliance realities.
Conclusion
The conversation highlighted that agility in hardware is less about forcing software practices and more about adapting principles—short learning cycles, risk reduction, and humble collaboration—to fit the realities of physical product development. SAFe for Hardware provides a structure for that adaptation, but its real power lies in co-creating ways of working that respect both the heritage and the complexity of hardware environments.

Thursday Sep 25, 2025
Thursday Sep 25, 2025
“How do you make auditors happy? It’s in the built-in quality stuff… not being the headless chickens anymore, being pretty much relaxed if someone pushes the Audit button.” — Stephan Neck
In this episode of SPCs Unleashed, the crew tackles a topic many practitioners dread: audits. Too often, audits trigger a frantic rush to patch documentation and hide gaps—a fire drill of “headless chickens.” But as the hosts remind us, audits in a SAFe® context don’t have to be adversarial. Done well, they can accelerate transformation by embedding quality, transparency, and risk management into everyday ways of working.
From Fear to Partnership
For many developers, the word audit recalls late nights preparing to fake compliance. But the hosts stress that auditors are not enemies—they share the same goal: ensuring sustainable, risk-aware transformation. By treating auditors as stakeholders and colleagues rather than bureaucratic gatekeepers, organizations can shift the dynamic from fear to collaboration.
5 Actionable Insights for Practitioners
Shift Left on Audits – Just as testing shifted left into daily work, audits should be integrated early. Invite auditors into transformation conversations instead of waiting for them at the end.
Build Audit Readiness with Built-In Quality – Practices like Definition of Done, automated compliance checks, and transparent dashboards mean audits become non-events instead of emergency scrambles.
Foster Collective Ownership – Move beyond the mindset that one person shields the team. Every role should understand why evidence matters and how it supports organizational safety.
Challenge the Myths – Many so-called “audit requirements” are organizational folklore, not law. Bringing auditors in early often exposes outdated practices and frees teams from unnecessary documentation.
Use Auditors as Accelerators – When aligned, auditors can clear away obstacles. One story described eliminating 75% of legacy documentation once auditors validated that automated test evidence was sufficient.
Conclusion
Audits are inevitable—but panic and compliance theater are optional. For SPCs, RTEs, and change agents, the opportunity is to reframe audits as continuous, built-in, and collaborative. Shifting left on audits not only reduces fear, it creates conditions where auditors become partners in transformation rather than roadblocks. When quality, transparency, and risk management are embedded into SAFe practices, audits evolve from disruptive events into quiet confirmations of progress.

Thursday Sep 25, 2025
Thursday Sep 25, 2025
“Creating ASPC is… a career highlight, one of the most joyful things I've done.” — Cheryl Crupi
In this episode of *SPCs Unleashed*, the crew welcomes Cheryl Crupi from the SAFe Framework team to unpack the brand-new **Advanced SPC (ASPC) training**. While Cheryl joins as a friend rather than in an official role, her fingerprints are all over the course design. Together with Mark, Niko, and Stephan, she explores what “advanced” really means for SPCs, how the training was shaped by research with more than 1,000 practitioners, and why practice, mastery, and confidence-building are at its heart.
Actionable Insights
1. Advanced = Confidence in Sticky SituationsASPC doesn’t revisit the basics. It focuses on the hardest parts of transformation — engaging executives, breaking through organizational inertia, and sustaining momentum — to help SPCs step forward with confidence.
2. Practice, Not Just TheoryHalf of the ASPC course is scenario-based learning. SPCs practice pitching, influencing, advocating, and problem-solving in a safe environment before facing those challenges in their organizations.
3. Engaging Leaders is CentralThe Engaging Leaders module emerged as a clear favorite. SPCs must empathize with executives, understand what truly matters to them (growth, innovation, talent), and communicate in their language.
4. The Learning Lab Brings It TogetherThe program culminates in a Learning Lab — a simulation where SPCs navigate a transformation story, apply tools, and create artifacts. It reinforces that no one SPC has all the answers; success comes from collaboration, experimentation, and feedback.
5. Staying Advanced Requires Continuous GrowthASPC is just the first step. To remain advanced, SPCs must keep practicing, mentor others, and share lessons learned at conferences or meetups — sharpening both technical expertise and soft skills over time.
Conclusion The Advanced SPC training is less about new slides and more about preparing SPCs to **lead change with confidence and empathy**. For practitioners who’ve mastered the basics, ASPC offers a challenging but rewarding next step — shifting the role from teaching SAFe to catalyzing enterprise-wide transformation.

Friday Jun 06, 2025
Friday Jun 06, 2025
“You’re making a big withdrawal from the transformation credit bank to get that many senior executives into a room for two days, aren’t you?” – Mark
Introduction
What justifies pulling senior leaders away for two days of portfolio work? In this episode, Mark, Ali, and Niko dig deep into the newly released Organizing Portfolios for Strategic Agility toolkit. The discussion is honest and pragmatic—tempered by real use, not just theory—but above all, it’s focused on how the toolkit can prompt meaningful insight and concrete movement inside organizations that rarely pause to re-examine their boundaries and assumptions.
Mark reflects on the toolkit’s progression from rough concept to proven tool. Ali enters as a “workshop skeptic,” bringing fresh eyes and healthy questioning from the LPM classroom. Niko connects the dots between early pilots and live delivery, sharing where even experienced hands needed to adjust. Together, the team underscores real value: the toolkit creates space for leaders to surface trade-offs and stuck patterns that often go unaddressed.
This one’s for coaches, VMOs, and change agents weighing not just “will this work here?” but “how do we make real progress with our stakeholders?”
Actionable Insights
Here’s what the Unleashed crew surface—explicitly or between the lines—about navigating portfolio structure and workshop facilitation:
- Workshops demand deep preparation, not a plug-and-play approach: Effective portfolio sessions rely on understanding the unique context, stakeholder views, and organizational politics ahead of time. “If this workshop would take us two days, I’m probably going to spend a full two weeks or more preparing for this workshop,” Ali notes.
- Strategic use of the two-part design is critical: The Overview builds shared language and a safe space to test boundaries, before executives confront trade-offs in the subsequent Workshop. This separation helps surface and derisk sensitive topics before action is taken.
- Language matters: frame conversations commercially: The toolkit’s focus on commercial criteria—regulatory, regional, business unit, innovation—allows executives to show up as decision-makers, not as process students. This turns frameworks into relevant strategy conversations.
- Drive momentum with phased, tangible action: Close sessions with clear next steps—now, next week, next month. Appreciation and clarity matter as much as insight; don’t end on a vague list.
Highlights
Why This Toolkit Demands Real Facilitation Skill
Mark and Niko make it clear: facilitating at this level is a distinct skill, fraught with political nuance and heightened stakes. It’s about more than managing group process—executives expect relevance and rigor. The enablement videos—especially Rebecca’s walkthroughs—surprise even seasoned coaches, who admit to slowing down and watching rather than skimming.
“You have to be good in facilitating high-ranked people or people who are doing strategic things, and that’s different from a workshop you are with teams, with developers.” – Niko
Who Is This Really For? Boundary Friction and Target Audience
Ali presses on audience fit: “To whom is this workshop, specifically designed?” The consensus: readiness is more about mindset and context than about scale. Whether facing a complex multi-portfolio landscape or just a single portfolio, the process uncovers where leaders are stuck or blind to key trade-offs.
“Some of the most profound insights and aha moments seem to come for the people who only had one portfolio, because it could help you think about what was inside your portfolio.” – Mark
Action, Not Just Awareness: Generating Real Change
Ali points to the challenge of translating group insight into organizational movement—especially around funding and governance. The conversation veers into the reality that a high-energy workshop can expose risk just as quickly as it exposes opportunity.
“A workshop like this can become quite a snake pit...if the workshop has participants that are very eager to do something, this workshop can really make or break your push to agility.”
Mark’s advice: aim for a charter you can realistically deliver on, and build your workshop flow to support that momentum.
Facilitation Patterns: Building the Team and Owning the Room
The team highlights running the Overview as a preparatory exercise for facilitators as much as for participants. Get your team aligned and immersed before you go live; it makes the Workshop delivery more resilient and adaptive.
Niko, usually quick to customize workshops, finds the toolkit robust right out of the box—an unusual endorsement, underscoring the quality and structure of the supporting materials.
The ASPC Requirement: Paywall or Professionalism?
The exclusive hosting requirement for Advanced SPCs (ASPC) evokes no debate about barriers. Instead, the team emphasizes the level of craft and preparation required to make the workshop safe and valuable for executive participants.
“If you have to be an ASPC or not, at least, what I expect is you have to know the article. You have to have done the overview yourself...experience on this level is not really high, even for the coaches.” – Niko
Conclusion
If you’re considering a portfolio structure workshop, resist the urge to treat the kit as an off-the-shelf solution. Its real power lies in providing structure to the necessary, often messy dialogue—helping leaders move past inertia, see the real trade-offs, and sketch a more actionable path forward. As Mark points out, “You could do the full workshop, change nothing, and still be better off for it—if you emerge with a clearer sense of your map and your mileposts.”
Don’t start with the stickies. Start with the purpose, the politics, and the prep.

Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
“Information is crucial. If you use it the wrong way, it’s the wrong data—it will influence your actions in a drastic way.” —Stephan Neck
In this episode, the Unleashed crew—Mark Richards, Ali Hajou, Stephan Neck, and Nikolaos Kaintantzis—bring a practitioner’s lens to the latest State of SAFe survey. Instead of glossing over findings or defaulting to boosterism, they pull apart the data, the context, and the stories those numbers can (and can’t) tell. Ali keeps the conversation grounded, Niko brings fresh metaphors and questions, and Mark and Stephan bridge the gap between framework theory and lived experience. The result is a thoughtful exploration of how coaches and leaders can use survey insights to inform—rather than define—their next moves.
Actionable Insights
Here’s what the Unleashed crew surface—explicitly and between the lines—about navigating survey data, SAFe transformation, and what to do next:
- Context transforms data into insight: Numbers alone aren’t enough. As the crew note, understanding who’s responding and what lens they’re using can shift a piece of data from trivia into guidance.- Patterns reveal opportunities, not just problems: Ongoing role confusion—especially between PO and PM—signals systemic friction. But it also points to clear spaces where targeted coaching, structure clarification, and realignment can unlock better outcomes.- Framework evolution is a call to creative action: SAFe, like any framework, moves forward through practical experimentation and responding to what actually works. Adaptation isn’t a burden—it's the path to staying relevant and making a real impact.
Highlights
The Database Dilemma: Can We Trust What We’re Reading?
Instead of accepting the survey at face value, the team probe what’s beneath the surface. Stephan sets the tone: “Where’s your database? How did you gather it? ...Is it telling a good story, or is it pouring in what the challenges are?” With many responses coming from managers rather than coaches, positive statistics require a second look.
“I would have expected more coaches, more SPCs… When I hear managers and being critical, is it telling a good story, or is it pouring in? What are the challenges we have?” —Stephan Neck
Mark urges a tailored approach to what the survey tells us: “I want to be able to go, what if you did that same analysis and you split it by cohort—what would the difference be?” The message: questioning is healthy, and segmenting data can lead to greater clarity and more precise action.
Hybrid Agility and the Trap of Surface Change
Ali surfaces a recurring reality: many organizations try to “do SAFe” in parallel with established systems—resulting in overlap, frustration, and the temptation to rebrand instead of rethink. Niko highlights the missing perspective: the survey tracks practices, but less so the people-focused work of coaching and enabling adaptive change.
“A lot of SAFe practices, but also the roles, are in a way done next to the existing way of working…rebranding a meeting, or rebranding a role, just giving it the new name.” —Ali Hajou
The crew encourage looking beyond relabeling—real change lives in how roles are experienced and supported, not just how they’re titled.
Why Are POs and PMs So Dissatisfied?
One insight stands out: product owners and product managers report the lowest satisfaction. Niko notes, “POs have the most decrease in satisfaction, and the most less increase is for PMs.” Mark explains the root: “That product owner is not going to have a lot of fun, because the team’s not going to want to talk about business problems—they’re going to want to talk about mainframe COBOL.” Responsibility without genuine autonomy creates frustration.
But here’s the upbeat twist: coaching and clarifying role responsibilities, especially on complex subsystem teams, offers a real lever for positive change. The data simply shines a light on where to focus next.
The Language Games: Rename with Care, Build with Intention
Niko points out the risk in constant renaming: “Just inventing everything new with a new vocabulary, then you have the worst of both.” Mark sums it up for coaches: “I don’t care what you call it, so long as you all call it the same thing… Let’s grow from the language you’ve got today.” The opportunity: meet teams where they are, align language deliberately, and create shared meaning rather than confusion.
Data Is a Compass, Not a Map
Throughout, the crew resist easy headline takeaways. As Mark puts it with a grin: “The box didn’t blow my mind, but it did confirm that I’ve been shopping at the right chocolate store.” The true gift of the survey is in confirming patterns and pointing practitioners towards areas where their energy will matter most.
“It’s comforting to have the survey confirm my beliefs about the common challenges, and now that Scaled Agile has the data in hand, there’s a better chance we’ll see meaningful change.” —Mark Richards
Conclusion
This episode isn’t about taking sides on SAFe. It’s an invitation to coaches and leaders: use data as a spark for useful dialogue, not dogma. Interpretation matters. Real transformation is about what we do next—together—when we see friction, not just how we label it.
Stay curious, stay connected to context, and let both skepticism and optimism fuel your next experiment.

Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
“The disciplines are about problem solving. They’re a way to navigate to knowledge… Different people love to find their knowledge different ways.” — Mark Richards
Introduction
SPCs Unleashed returns with a stepwise, hard-nosed look at the new Scaled Agile “disciplines” announced in Sorrento—an architectural shift intended to make the framework more usable, less dogmatic, and ultimately more valuable in the context of enterprise change. With Mark Richards guiding the connection points and Stephan Neck leading the inquiry, the team (joined by Nikolaos “Niko” Kaintantzis) explores what this modular reframe really means for practitioners and transformation leaders invested in real agility, not just surface adoption.
No hype here. The Unleashed crew does what they do best: challenge received wisdom, probe for real-world risks, and test whether the new direction delivers what coaches and organizations actually need.
Actionable Insights
Here’s what the crew surfaces—directly and by friction—about adopting the “disciplines” model for Scaled Agile:
- Navigation over prescription: The move from static configurations to adaptable disciplines creates more tailored entry points for actual business problems—if you’re willing to begin with context, not the “one true path.”
- Optionality introduces risk and clarity: The flexibility is real, but so is the risk of new “disciplinary silos.” Systemic glue—often in the form of LACE or a Value Management Office—matters more than ever.
- Depth and teaming over overwhelm: Coaches shouldn’t be daunted by the number of disciplines now in play. The days of aspiring to be a master of everything are gone; the model favors T-shaped expertise—broad awareness, with real depth in focus areas, working in cross-functional teams where strengths combine instead of one coach trying to cover all bases.
- Leadership isn’t a module: While there’s a dedicated discipline for Leadership & Culture, raising actual executive capability will almost always demand more than the framework prescribes.
Highlights
Goodbye “Fit All” Configurations—Hello Study, Inquiry, Focus
The team unpacks what a discipline means—a field of study, not just a “box to tick.” As Stephan frames it: “You study something… you inquire—it’s not a given, then you dive into the methods, theories, and principles.”
For coaches, this isn’t a theoretical shift. Navigation starts with the problem at hand. Mark calls out the storytelling value: “You can now sit and see a connected story… Discipline names guide you, then the disciplines can tell a story that is meaningful to you.”
The Silo Risk: Specialization Without System Fragmentation
There’s energy around the newfound freedom to “specialize”—but also caution. Niko reframes the “silo” anxiety, saying: “If there are silos, I love them—as areas of specialization. It’s better than forcing full SAFE because you think you have to do everything.” Still, the LACE becomes responsible for ensuring the overall flow: “The LACE should be the glue between the disciplines.”
Not Just Clicking Around: Adaptive Learning and Agentic Guidance
Mark and the crew recognize that modern knowledge-seeking isn’t about browsing static pictures: “Structuring your knowledge for a modern person means providing clarity to the information and guidance SAFE has to offer—in their particular context and situation. People are going to do what most of us do… ask our CoPilots or ChatGPT questions.”
This has implications for framework design—and for the way coaches help others find, not just receive, useful knowledge.
Practice as Organism, Not IT Upgrade
Niko spotlights a critical mindset shift: “With disciplines, it feels more human—a living organism you actively tend, not just a system to install or upgrade.” The conversation pushes for systemic coaching and change—not checklist compliance. In Stephan’s words: “It’s a step from crawling to walking, even running.”
Leadership & Culture: Essential, Yet (Still) Not Enough
On the leadership discipline: Mark is frank—perhaps provocatively so: “Personally, I don’t know that teaching senior leaders to be better leaders is SAFE’s strong suit… If an enterprise wants better leaders, they’ll go elsewhere.” Niko echoes the call for “outside bodies of knowledge” and cautions that even with more content, “leadership training is not everything.”
Yet, the team affirms the new model’s “red thread”: contextual, cross-cutting, lived behaviors matter. Stephan frames it clearly: “Culture isn’t a poster on the wall; it’s the sum of our behaviors… you either live it or it doesn’t exist.”
Product Development Flow: Feedback Isn’t Optional
When exploring the Product Development Flow discipline, Niko delivers a caution to those who see themselves as “special cases”: “Never say, ‘I don’t need this competency; everything is clear.’ Nothing is clear.” Mark adds, “The discipline gives you a starting place for a conversation. Where you begin is not always where you should end.”
The Donut Problem: Expertise, Teaming, and Copilot Reality
Don’t be a donut. Both Mark and Niko agree: you can’t—and shouldn’t—try to become a generalist who is “a jack of all trades, master of none.” Mark points out, “If you’re an SPC, you’ve got to find some way to do better than copilot. I don’t know that you’re going to do that if you chase being a donut.”
The answer? Cross-functional, specialized LACE teams—moving as a team sport, not as isolated experts.
Conclusion
This episode doesn’t romanticize SAFE’s evolution—it interrogates it. The new disciplines model offers real leverage for coaches to navigate, not just replicate, patterns of agility. But it comes with risks: potential fragmentation, the need for new forms of glue, and an increased demand for coaches to specialize, stay context-sensitive, and admit where outside expertise is essential.
If you’re leading an enterprise journey, start with the context. Let the problem, not the picture, guide your engagement. Don’t chase donuts; build a team where depth and cross-pollination are your differentiators.