[TMA] Might AI Fix Broken "Agile Transformations"?

In this issue:

• Organizational implications of embracing AI
• UX/Design Org Health Survey Live Discussion: Nov 12
• Design Leadership Demystified in Toronto Nov 17

Organizational Implications of Embracing AI

My pal Jacob Styburski wrote a thought-provoking LinkedIn post titled "5th Gen Tech Running on a 2nd-Gen Operating System," where he points out that while "Agile Transformations" introduced a set of rituals that made it look like companies were nimbler, most are still running on industrial-era organization models (highly hierarchical and bureaucratic), and so their structure and decision-making has remained the same.

This has been a theme of my work for ~15 years now, long pre-dating AI, because I witnessed these outdated models, which encourage silos and a focus on output, inhibit the delivery of high quality user experiences, which require lateral approaches and a shift towards outcomes.

Bud Caddell from NOBL shared his team's take on "The Self-Driving Org," identifying the attributes that enable companies to embrace these tools most effectively.

I am both dubious and hopeful. Dubious because we had a wave of enlighted org thinking about 15 years ago (discussions of holacracy, DAOs, self-organizing structures, "teal" organizations), and nothing stuck. For better and worse, "Agile" (purposefully in scare quotes) has been the only impactful means of organizational change in the last 20 years. But even that couldn't overcome the bureaucratic rot at the core of these organizations, with most operating in a 'cargo cult' fashion, stepping through the activities without understanding or realizing the intent.

Hopeful because there is so much being invested in AI, and perhaps companies may be willing to do what is actually necessary in order to reap the benefits they seek.

UX/Design Organizational Health Live Session November 12

Join me on November 12 at 8am PT/11am ET/4pm UK/17.00 CET for a Rosenverse Live discussion of the 2025 State of UX/Design Organizational Health, based on the survey and analysis I published last week.

Given the nature of his publishing and events work, Lou Rosenfeld has a unique perspective across UX and Design, and I look forward to our discussion to dig into implications of the research that even I hadn't realized.

Design Leadership Demystified in Toronto November 17

In a week and a half, I'll be in Toronto teaching my world-renowned Design Leadership ✨Demystified✨ masterclass on November 17, the day before the Design Leadership Summit. Register with the promotion code PM20 and get 20% off the ticket price.