#agile

I have been thinking a lot about ai and sw eng. work.... been doing it now for almost 3 decades... the productvity gains are real. code moves faster - test cases are easier, documenting takes less effort... and research that used to take hrs happens more quickly.

at the same time, engineering has never been just about producing code. at least for me and folks around me... a lot of the value comes from debugging, arch discussions, mistakes, tradeoffs. learning the system deeply enough to shape it yourself. if ai starts solving too much of that for us, we will lose some of the judgment and ownership that made work meaningful.

Anyhow I do not think the answer is to reject ai. It is way too useful for that... the question is how we use it without replacing the curiosity... craftsmanship... collaboration and mentoring that make good engineers, and good teams even better...

At the same time I do that my wishes will come true, the economics are against it. So, yea times have changed...

SMs, Now that you are exiting, can you tell us what exactly you were doing beside scheduling and hosting agile ceremonies. You were getting free money folks

We were first introduced to these ‘traveling’ resources when the Spotify model rolled through. Are they the ones leading the “next re-org” too? If not, were any of them impacted in this? Or are they the ones pushing the enablement lead lingo…

Interesting timing there….

Good luck everyone tomorrow in agile type roles. This is unfair to anyone affected.

It seems like the roles impacted are only tech and agile.

What would be the reason to bring the whole company back other than phones, if there’s no RIF impact?

Based on what’s posted here if there’s so many groups with zero impact. Why make everyone miserable just to slash tech?

Widespread layoffs are occurring in 2026 across many companies. AI automation is a primary driver, replacing middle-layer roles. Companies are trading permanent salaries for software subscriptions. This shift creates a high demand for specialized freelance talent. The future of work increasingly favors an agile, independent workforce.

https://www.thehrdigest.com/the-great-reset-layoffs-in-2026-and-the-rise-of-freelance-recruiting/

Stock has tanked, 10's of thousands of employees on the street, 10's of thousands working off-short for pennies, agile rolled out with aggressive, mandated goals and no asset cap. What's really going on?

Is there anyone who thinks the project Starbust for chemicals can go well? I hear they are planning large staff cuts on top of the voluntary severance going on now, and the new org will be based on agile working methodology. Who thinks that’s a good idea? Using a philosophy designed for software development for a chemical manufacturing plant? Do they realize they are going to lose basic but important skills like navigating SAP? Even the people that are left will have such low morale and buy in. This feels like the latter days of Enron or some other business failure. Am I wrong - does someone out there think there is a chance these changes will be great?

Meeting-

1. So no mention of serving the athlete.
2. Key focus is serving the biz. The biz often doesn’t think big picture or with logic. Not to mention shipping jobs to ITC means a 12 hour time difference. Biz never works outside of 8-4 pst. ITC never starts until 10am ITC time.
3. Not gonna work my dude.
4. Glad our leaders are so intelligent.
5. TPM sr director in the chat offering to train folks on agile. Embarrassing all around.

If you are a PO, PM, scrum lead, BA, RTE in P-M - how are you not losing your mind? The amount of administrative BS we have to do is pure insanity. I have no other word for it. How, on gods green earth, is this an efficient way to work?

Is it true?

Who going to coach us on the next sprint?

Heard there was impacts to the agile family. Any additional details?

Let’s start by saying the quiet part out loud: most of the “agile leadership” still hanging around the bank looks like the clearance rack of corporate transformation. Folks who washed out of Best Buy and Target and couldn’t quite stick the landing anywhere else in the Fortune 500. You could cut half the agile coaches and performative agile leaders tomorrow and the only noticeable impact would be fewer meetings about meetings.

The latest org changes just reinforce that reality. A digital leader casually floated the idea that there was “opportunity” to rotate product and agile assignments across teams. Translation: since we can’t actually promote or develop people, let’s blow up stable teams instead and call it growth. Why not inject a little chaos, instability, and work/life imbalance for fun?
Naturally, instead of agile leadership doing their actual jobs, like explaining why this is a spectacularly bad idea and gently escorting that leader away from the cliff, they went all in.

Scrum Masters got shuffled around, including ones who were deeply embedded with teams that existed long before said leaders showed up. And, of course, everyone was told to keep quarterly planning on track, maintain team performance, and execute rushed handoffs at the same time. Because nothing says “agile maturity” quite like lighting the house on fire and asking everyone to keep dinner warm.

And let’s not forget the timing. This brilliant idea was floating around before ICE went full dystopian cosplay in local communities - storming around, kidnapping children, pepper spraying grandma on her way to target, and generally reminding everyone that the world is already on edge. Against that backdrop, I have to hand it to our failed agile leaders for truly impeccable coordination: announcing these changes while simultaneously rolling out layoffs. Chef’s kiss.

Nothing reassures employees quite like organizational chaos paired with “by the way, your job might disappear.” Thank you so very much for letting me keep this absolutely fantastic job, at least for now.

An enterprise-wide commitment to failing fast, failing often, and learning absolutely nothing.

It is clear that the ELT is grasping at straws. Retention and Growth are stagnant as our overall service level has fallen to never seen levels of FA disappointment . The promised efficiency of Salesforce and Moneyguide for branches has never arrived.

We are all living the agile worst case with broken systems and products that will never live up to the hype. If this is finding our Rich then count me out.

Spotify was a broken model to begin with especially in Fidelity.

But What's the inside story on how they realized this agile model is not working in Tech. After spending millions over the years on all change.

The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.

I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.
Progress.

Day one, I said "we need to break down silos."
Everyone nodded.
Silos are bad.
I don't know why.
But destroying them is a career.
My career.

I introduced "squads."
Squads are teams.
But disrupted.
We disrupted the teams into teams.
Different names.
Same people.
Same problems.
But Agile problems now.
Agile problems are strategic.

A senior engineer asked what we're actually changing.
I said, "The mindset."
He asked what that means.
I said, "It's a journey."
He asked where we're going.
I said, "Toward agility."
He asked what agility means.
I pointed at the sticky notes.
They were moving left to right.
That's velocity.
We have velocity now.

The VP of Engineering said two-week sprints don't fit their work.
I said, "That's waterfall thinking."
Waterfall is bad.
Like silos.
I don't know what waterfall is.
But I know it's bad.
She stopped talking.
Waterfall accusations end conversations.

We had a retrospective.
In the retro, we discussed what went wrong.
Everything went wrong.
We put it on sticky notes.
Then we moved the sticky notes.
Into a column called "Parking Lot."
The Parking Lot is where problems go to die.
It's full.
We don't look at it.
That's agile.

Velocity is up 40%.
I defined velocity.
I also defined the points.
I also defined the stories.
We're crushing it.
At the things I made up.
To measure.
Ourselves.

The CEO asked for ROI.
I showed a chart.
The chart went up.
Charts should go up.
This one did.
I didn't label the Y-axis.
Nobody asked.
Leadership is confidence.

We do standups now.
Every day.
We stand.
For 45 minutes.
Standing is agile.
Sitting is waterfall.
My legs hurt.
But we're transforming.

The transformation is now "Phase 3."
Phase 1 was assessment.
Phase 2 was implementation.
Phase 3 is "continuous improvement."
Continuous means forever.
Forever means job security.
I'm very secure.

My contract was extended.
Three more years.
For "cultural impact."
The culture is confused.
But impacted.

Agile transformation isn't about being agile.
It's about transforming.
Continuously.
Toward more transformation.
The destination is the journey.
The journey is billable.

The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.

I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.
Progress.

Day one, I said "we need to break down silos."
Everyone nodded.
Silos are bad.
I don't know why.
But destroying them is a career.
My career.

I introduced "squads."
Squads are teams.
But disrupted.
We disrupted the teams into teams.
Different names.
Same people.
Same problems.
But Agile problems now.
Agile problems are strategic.

A senior engineer asked what we're actually changing.
I said, "The mindset."
He asked what that means.
I said, "It's a journey."
He asked where we're going.
I said, "Toward agility."
He asked what agility means.
I pointed at the sticky notes.
They were moving left to right.
That's velocity.
We have velocity now.

The VP of Engineering said two-week sprints don't fit their work.
I said, "That's waterfall thinking."
Waterfall is bad.
Like silos.
I don't know what waterfall is.
But I know it's bad.
She stopped talking.
Waterfall accusations end conversations.

We had a retrospective.
In the retro, we discussed what went wrong.
Everything went wrong.
We put it on sticky notes.
Then we moved the sticky notes.
Into a column called "Parking Lot."
The Parking Lot is where problems go to die.
It's full.
We don't look at it.
That's agile.

Velocity is up 40%.
I defined velocity.
I also defined the points.
I also defined the stories.
We're crushing it.
At the things I made up.
To measure.
Ourselves.

The CEO asked for ROI.
I showed a chart.
The chart went up.
Charts should go up.
This one did.
I didn't label the Y-axis.
Nobody asked.
Leadership is confidence.

We do standups now.
Every day.
We stand.
For 45 minutes.
Standing is agile.
Sitting is waterfall.
My legs hurt.
But we're transforming.

The transformation is now "Phase 3."
Phase 1 was assessment.
Phase 2 was implementation.
Phase 3 is "continuous improvement."
Continuous means forever.
Forever means job security.
I'm very secure.

My contract was extended.
Three more years.
For "cultural impact."
The culture is confused.
But impacted.

Agile transformation isn't about being agile.
It's about transforming.
Continuously.
Toward more transformation.
The destination is the journey.
The journey is billable.

Can anyone explain the current status of this? It is still stated as a working arrangement, but have people on it had to move to 4 days?

Also, if you were on agile flex but a people manager, do you have to do 4 days or is agile flex still an option?

Squad leader here in ET. Good shares (>1000), Bonus (~100%) but zero raise. I was told "Abby mandated no base raise for agile roles in ET" but I'm not buying it.

Any squad leads, scrum masters and chapter leads in ET can attest to the contrary?

Even all agiles roles in ET got no raise, we know it's not the case in other BU. So it's most likely from the bean counter Bill.

What i can see is a systematic sidelining of squad leads across wealth and brokerage .The grade-8 SLs are on their way out. Squad leads are treated par with scrum masters.

So I went to my morning meeting. We all joined. Some were still waking up (west coast) and others had already consumed multiple cups of coffee.
"good morning!" said the scrum master.
"mmmmm" said we all.
"OK so we are going to go through the tickets now and start with you, Bob"
Ummm...OK so I'm not Bob, but I have to say, I started multitasking right away. Why you say? Well because what Bob does has nothing to do with what I do. In fact, all members of the team work on different things that really don't overlap.
But wait! We need Agile! Agile will improve lead time, cycle time, WIP, and other things (unmentionables)
In this team, nope. No one cares. Each is in their own world. Step back say 5 years, and everyone was trying to help. We all crossed lines. Now? Nope, all I care about is my tickets and their due dates.
So now we have a scrum master, a product owner, a manager, and then.....the rest of us. So we went from our manager (one person) to now 3 people all trying to manage the rest of us. And, did I mention, 4 of 7 got laid off? So now 3 of us are being managed by 3 new bosses to get more done with less.

This is the WF implementation of Agile. Read it and weep.......

Here's what we know:

Scrum masters to become "enablement lead" if you're liked enough, else made redundant

Squad leads to be "engineering lead" if you're liked enough, else made redundant

No chapter / squad leads or group chapter / squad leads

They will become delivery team lead, platform team lead.

Delivery team lead responsible for go live.

Pretty much level 7,8 and beyond are either let go or titles change.

One thing for sure, holiday AAM is going to be somber.

Our teams just had a flash call,

Bob wants to move quickly and how,

An exceptional performer was told they have 3 months to look for new role at fidelity or negotiate severance.

All that after fidelity had net revenue profit of over 3.5 B.

Why are we ruining people's lives over holidays?

Can someone please explain the agile changes and job titles changes being introduced? I am based out of the US so didn’t get any email on it. Are they getting rid of scrum masters and SLs?

Scrum masters, chapters, squads are "retiring"

Wonder who's next on the chopping blocks.

November 18th doomsday clock seems still accurate.

TLDR: me, another person on this site, ranting about Fidelity’s agile, and my potentially useless prediction.

If they’re cutting agile roles, then I hate to say it but they’re cutting in the right place. Frankly, they should have laid them off last year.

I used to want to position myself into an agile role myself. Frankly, as a tech person, I was lazy, and decided to try to weasel my way into an easier role. Eventually, I fell in love with the art of software engineering, so I’m not gonna transfer into Agile. Plus, I’ve met (countless) scrum masters and agile coaches in and out of Fidelity who told me that it’s not a good time to be in the craft.

Frankly, Agile just isn’t done right in so many roles. There’s not enough actually good scrum masters out there. Fidelity is also not a good place for agilists to grow. The way Fidelity is set up, there are many non scrum masters that play as the scrum master. You have scrum masters in Fidelity who glorify things like “it’s a made up job”, and “I just do this to get the easiest way into management”. That culture is rampant especially in FI. You don’t need a scrum master unless the scrum master is damn good at their job, and we’re gonna need those that operate about higher than Fidelity’s EP standards.

It’s just the way Fidelity is. Fidelity isn’t doing agile. They’re doing their Fidelity Fragile. Which, hasn’t worked. Fidelity in 2025 is about networking to the top. Scrum masters are a program dedicated to networking to the top. Respectfully, the way Fidelity does scrum is to have the scrum masters be the ones that the upper management blame and speak with when things go awry. The scrum masters report to those higher up people. They’re viewed by Fidelity as Fidelity figure heads. It’s disrespectful to those who are actually good at their jobs.

My prediction is that a good chunk of scrum masters will definitely be laid off. Potentially, 1/3. I don’t have someone high in ranking “in the know” like many anonymous people on this website claim they have. I just have my experience in tech and my experience with how Fidelity mucks things up. I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong.

This is the rest of my prediction. A few months after the layoff, remaining scrum masters will be reorganized to manage more teams. Usually, they manage up to 2 teams. That’s just how it’s supposed to be in agile anywhere. But knowing Fidelity, they might try to extend that to 3 or 4. Upper management will realize that many don’t really have any real functionality outside of hanging out all day (not an agile fault, it’s a Fidelity fault), so they’ll pile more teams on the surviving agilists to manage. Job opportunities for agility is scarce, so the remaining scrum masters will stay at Fidelity. The good 1% (not even the good 5%) will leave for better opportunity elsewhere. The remaining will probably not have much hope outside of Fidelity. Unless they want to uproot their lives. Many have been in tech as software engineers in the past, but once you cross that bridge from software engineer to Scrum, you ain’t going back. Which is a shame since some are passionate about code.

I don’t know if I’d be happy to be proven right or wrong by this. If you’re gonna lay off the scrum masters, I mean… majority of them deserve it, many are lazy, have no motive other than themselves, and capitalize off Fidelity. Those scrum masters should be out, rather than other positions that don’t obviously offer no value. But then, you could lay off the good scrum masters that make people realize why they’re useful. And that would be sad. But then again, that’s Fidelity’s culture anyway. And Fidelity will still survive since the company is a historic cash cow.

I’m genuinely sorry to passionate scrum masters at Fidelity that you’re in this position. None of this was meant to disrespect YOU. You don’t deserve to be dealing with these other people who do not appreciate you. When I was researching becoming a scrum master for the wrong reasons, I talked with 10 scrum masters/agile coaches. There were only 2 that were actually passionate about agile. That’s just my personal experience, but you may see something different. As for the scrum masters that don’t add ANY value and are only jaded to get a paycheck, please just add some value. They probably won’t take my request seriously. They’ll sit around being like “hi team, look at this chart I made of your guys work, it has a squiggly line that shows how many stories you finish, so now I can make money, derp”.

Thank you for reading. I’d be happily proven wrong, and like to hear back from other people. Especially people who have seen how agile unfolded at Fidelity over the years, and (good) agilists at Fidelity themselves.

I am skeptical about the value of architects in modern development, especially when they operate in an ivory tower. The role often results in a pile of Confluence pages and diagrams that no one reads, adds unnecessary bureaucracy, and ultimately slows us down. Many are outdated and worse than scrum masters.To be valuable, an architect must be able to contribute directly to the codebase. If they can't code, their relevance in a fast-paced delivery environment is questionable.
The architect role has become parasitic, consuming resources and time without delivering tangible value to the development process

Keeping useless joke fluff roles like those while getting rid of the technical folks who do the real work, tells you all you need to know about how big of a clown show this company is now 🤡🇮🇳

As the dust settles on this cluster fu-k of a reorg, I can’t help but think back to Agile. Remember when that was going to save everything? And how performative people proclaimed its benefits, even if it was just a “mindset”? And yet - when was the last time anyone even mentioned it.

And now, the same LT that forced that down our throat with the delusional thinking of how it would save us, are trying proclaiming ENGINE as the next savior. The emperor has no clothes kids. Time to let them know.

Society/civilization hasn't come up with a better way to do things than multi-decade old agile?

It's ironic. When it comes to tech, newer is usually better. But not agile.

I've been sheltered at Wells for years, so I'm not sure how today's current successful tech world does things. Seems hard to believe agile still rules the day though.

It's just a sloppy, do-nothing-to-facilitate-completion-of-work way to do things. Over the top amount of talking and meetings. Always. Just endless talking and meetings. Followed by frantic deadlines the keeps everyone stressed out.

I work in IT as a software dev and wonder if I should update my resume to list SAFe Agile experience at USAA? Will future employers think I'm just as useless as the Release Train Engineers, Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters and the rest of the bureaucratic dead weight floating around USAA?

Good job BM and the rest of the apple dumpling gang on a horrible Q1 and an absolutely embarrassing call. Why are we resuming our share buyback program?? BM is getting hammered by analysts for his grossly inflated salary…meanwhile our share price likely won’t ever sniff $40 again. #ONE, #AGILE, #DRIVING SHARE PRICE LOWER