Case Studies
I led a transformation focused on fixing funding hurdles and closing communication gaps across digital teams. Read on to learn how this approach boosted delivery speed and kept up with constantly shifting online demands.
Learn how I collaborated with executives to shift mindsets from ‘leaders with followers’ to ‘leaders of leaders,’ fueling faster decisions, clearer direction, and broader innovation.
Leading a multi-year Agile initiative in a large complex organization, I guided marketing business & IT in modernizing their digital delivery approach. Explore how we broke down silos and established a culture primed for rapid, customer-centric innovation. Be prepared for an unexpected ending.
Through an Agile-focused transformation in USAA’s Data & Analytics organization, I helped reshape data systems and accelerate insights delivery, enabling smarter decisions faster.
Marketing Business & IT Agility
Time to market improved by
Predictability improved by
Volatility Decreased by
Overview
A leading financial services company transformed its Marketing and IT teams into a cohesive, Agile-driven force. The six-year initiative spanned over 600 professionals across Marketing Applications, Marketing Data, and the Marketing department itself. Despite major successes early on, leadership turnover in the final phase caused momentum to stall—reinforcing the essential role of consistent executive support.
Long Lead Times
Traditional marketing initiatives took months, delaying time-sensitive campaigns.
Siloed Teams
Technology and business teams worked in isolation, causing poor communication and inefficiency.
Lack of Visibility
Senior leaders had limited insight into ongoing work and ROI, slowing down decisions.
Unified Roadmap:
Created a clear plan linking Marketing, Data Engineering, and IT projects under shared goals.
Agile Coaching & Leadership:
Trained teams in Scrum, Kanban, and Lean-Agile principles; introduced Release Train Engineers (RTEs) to guide and synchronize efforts.
Cross-Functional Teams:
Formed squads with both business and tech expertise to streamline workflows and reduce handoffs.
Data-Driven Prioritization:
Used methods like Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) to invest resources in the most valuable marketing features.
Collaboration Tools & Communication:
Adopted Jira, Rally, Slack, and Zoom to increase transparency, real-time updates, and alignment across time zones.
Speed & Throughput
Achieved a 105% boost in marketing feature delivery—more work done in less time.
Shorter Cycles
Cut lead times by 60%, enabling quicker campaign pivots and faster marketing reactions to new opportunities.
Better Predictability
Reduced release volatility by 43%, giving teams more confidence in delivery timelines.
High Executive Engagement
Leaders participated in Agile ceremonies (like demos and planning), which initially improved feedback loops and alignment.
Leadership Turnover
A new Chief Marketing Officer and leadership team paused the transformation, uncertain about Agile’s benefits.
Sustaining Change
Without ongoing sponsorship, many teams reverted to their older processes—even though pockets of Agile success remained.
Secure Executive Sponsorship Early & Ongoing
Leadership consistency is vital to maintain Agile momentum
Institutionalize Agile Knowledge
Train champions and document best practices to weather leadership transitions.
Tie Agile Metrics to Business Impact
Show how faster cycles and better predictability drive revenue, so new leaders see immediate value.
Enable Cross-Functional Teams
Shared objectives, daily communication, and consistent tooling keep teams focused on delivering user value.
Conclusion
This Agile journey demonstrates how a well-planned transformation can dramatically improve speed, collaboration, and outcomes in a large marketing organization. It also underlines the importance of stable, informed leadership to sustain these gains over the long term. Today, the pockets of teams still practicing Agile continue to see the benefits of quicker turnaround and better cross-functional alignment—showing that, with the right sponsorship and culture, Agile can thrive in any business environment.
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Business Agility in data & Analytics
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Overview
A leading financial services company transformed its Business Data & Analytics teams into a TBD. TBD
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Conclusion
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Executive Leadership Agility
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Overview
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Conclusion
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Digital Experience Agility
Faster Delivery
Improved Strategic Aligment
Increased Leader Engagement
Overview
A large financial-services organization modernized its Digital Experience Delivery (DXD) for customer-facing channels (mobile, online, chat, voice). I served as one of four Agile Coaches, focusing on Agile Portfolio Management and aligning an annualized $93 million budget with strategic initiatives. Over four years, the transformation drastically sped up time to market, improved cross-team collaboration, and established a stable, persistent funding model for ongoing digital innovations.
Annual Funding Lock-Ins
Relying on static yearly budgets made it difficult to adapt to the fast pace of digital trends.
Organizational Silos
Product management, UX design, and development teams operated in isolation, slowing releases and fragmenting the user experience.
Soaring Customer Expectations
Rapidly evolving digital demands meant customers expected frequent updates, seamless omni-channel experiences, and frictionless service.
Agile Portfolio Management & Strategic Alignment
By introducing digital product management, financial feasibility practices, Lean Portfolio Management, and WSJF, we secured the organization's first persistent funding for digital product experience development.
Established Agile Release Trains (ARTs)
Created four ARTs (for mobile, online, chat/voice, and enterprise UX) to synchronize multiple teams, roles, and objectives.
Quarterly Planning Increments (PIs)
Established a recurring PI planning cadence to improve cross-team alignment, roadmapping, and customer responsiveness, with a strong focus on risk and dependency management.
Embedded UX
To unify the customer journey across channels, I integrated design professionals directly into each team. This collaboration ensured a holistic understanding of the customer, from concept to implementation.
Coaching & Training
Provided continuous education and support to co-create a tailored Agile framework with executives, product owners, Scrum Masters, and Developers consisting of elements from Scrum-at-Scale, Kanban, and SAFe frameworks.
$93 Million annually in Persistent Funding
Moved from one-off annual approvals to a stable funding pipeline, enabling continuous exploration, integration, and delivery.
30% Faster Delivery Times
Shortened release cycles without compromising quality or increasing defect rates.
40% Improvement in Strategic Alignment
Cross-functional collaboration soared; teams reported clearer alignment to enterprise-wide objectives.
27% Boost in Leadership Engagement
Executives participated more actively in planning cycles and backlog prioritization.
Secure Ongoing Investment
Providing continuous, flexible funding is essential to support iterative development in digital channels.
Empower Cross-Functional Teams
Co-located UX, product, and engineering teams accelerate delivery, ensure end-to-end ownership, and improves the value delivered to customers.
Align Agile with Business Goals
Showcasing real-time data and frequent updates ties Agile progress to strategic outcomes, gaining top-level buy-in, and engagement in the change effort.
Optimize Governance & Reporting
Transparent, visual reporting on budget usage and how it aligns with product roadmaps promotes trust and clarifies decision-making.
Support Continuous Growth & Learning
Agile coaches and embedded Scrum Masters help teams refine processes, adapt to feedback, and scale effectively.
Persistent Funding Fuels Innovation
Shifting to a rolling, adaptive budget model drives quicker pivots and more frequent product improvements.
Culture Transformation Drives Performance
Integrating design, product, and tech under one Agile umbrella fosters user-centric features and accelerated releases.
Leadership Engagement is Critical
Regular involvement from senior leadership keeps prioritization aligned with strategic visions and ensures top-down support.
Conclusion
By reorganizing teams around digital platforms and products and the customer experience, adopting Lean Agile mindset and principles, and establishing a consistent quarterly PI cadence, this Digital Experience Transformation empowered a once siloed organization to deliver new digital experiences up to 30% faster. The enduring result is a more aligned, collaborative, and proactive culture—one primed to push the boundaries of mobile, online, chat, and voice experiences with agility and customer focus.
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