Scrum.org Community Podcast

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Dave West sits down with Tomasz Maj, Head of Product Ops at Odevo, to explore how a rapidly growing property management giant is navigating the AI revolution. Odevo faces a unique challenge: managing a massive, diverse portfolio across the northern hemisphere while balancing centralized scale with local autonomy.Tomasz pulls back the curtain on "vibe coding"—the democratization of development that allows non-technical staff to build functional tools—and how Odevo balances this "wild west" of innovation with rigorous security and GitHub-backed governance.Key topics include:The Operating Model of Diversity: Why Odevo chooses not to have a single "master platform" and how that fuels speed.Vibe Coding in the Wild: How accountants and maintenance teams are using AI to solve their own data problems.The 5-Step AI Engineer: Inside Odevo’s comprehensive training program, from prompting to agentic development.Governance vs. Innovation: How to implement "Module Zero" (legal, GDPR, and security) without killing the creative spirit.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Eric Naiburg, COO at Scrum.org  and Darrell Fernandes, Executive Advisor at Scrum.org continue to dive into how to make AI a true teammate in product development while answering questions from a recent webinar on the topic. They explore the importance of creating a context library to store domain-specific knowledge, enabling AI to provide accurate, efficient answers. Learn how consistent definitions, thoughtful prompt engineering, and regular updates to your AI context can improve team collaboration, reduce costs, and empower Scrum Masters to guide effective AI usage.

If you are a Scrum Master, Agile Coach or in a related role and have questions about how to use AI as a tool to better support your job, teams and organization, this episode is for you!AI has become a core capability in product delivery and is transforming every role. Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches have a key part to play in the use of AI and introducing AI to teams, products and organizations, acting as a catalyst for change. Through the proper use of AI tools, Scrum Masters, their teams and organization become more effective. But in what ways can you reap the benefits?In this Ask a PST session hosted by Patricia Kong, PSTs Miriam Blommers and Said Azarfane took listener questions on how to leverage AI to be more successful as a Scrum Master! Whether you are looking to find ways to improve facilitation, collaboration or solve more challenges, get great advice in this episode on how to make AI a helpful and important part of your toolbox!

Roland Flemm, co‑author and OT mapper who designs fit‑for‑purpose structures. Alexey Krivitsky, co‑author and org design consultant focused on AI‑enabled performance. They explore why organizations need a 10x adaptability leap for AI. They explain OT mapping to visualize value flows and dependencies. They discuss mandate conflicts, choosing topologies to match strategy, and starting small with change experiments.

Yuval Yeret, Professional Scrum Trainer focused on scaling and systems thinking, and Tyson Bertmaring, VP Partnership Success who treats G&A as internal products. They explore applying APOM to organizational capabilities. They discuss stewardship over local optimization, balancing running vs building the system, and turning G&A into service-oriented internal products with measurable goals.

In Part 2 of this Q&A series stemming from questions in the webinar, Managing Your AI Teammate, Eric Naiburg continues the conversation with Darrell Fernandes, diving deeper into how AI is reshaping the way Scrum Teams work.Together, they explore practical applications of AI in Scrum — from drafting and refining user stories to strengthening Definitions of Done and improving Gherkin statements. Darrell shares how AI can help teams create clearer, more consistent, and testable backlog items, while also warning against over-reliance.Eric and Darrell examine AI’s impact on team dynamics, including how meeting-recording tools can summarize conversations, capture action items, and support retrospectives. They also address the human side of adoption: differing mental models, fear of change, and the critical role Scrum Masters play as enablers — not gatekeepers — of AI experimentation.Finally, they tackle a topic many teams overlook: total cost of ownership. As AI capabilities expand, Product Owners must understand infrastructure, data, and operational costs to avoid unintended financial consequences.If you're navigating how to thoughtfully integrate AI into your Scrum Team — balancing opportunity, risk, and cost — this episode offers practical insights and grounded guidance.

Andrew Nimmer, Assistant Head of Carroll Upper School and product owner who led a Scrum-based effort to improve parent-teacher conferences. He recounts applying Scrum outside tech, shifting to continuous product development, and empowering teams to iterate. They discuss balancing classroom duties with project work, using data for better conferences, and lessons from rolling out changes across campuses.

Brodie Green, Director of Agile Delivery Services at Pegasystems, who has guided large-scale agile across global product orgs. He recounts Pega’s multi-decade agile evolution and the shift to hybrid models. They cover moving to six-week continuous planning, rebranding Scrum Masters as Agile Delivery Leads, shortening feedback loops across portfolios, and using AI to amplify teams.

In this Q&A episode, Eric Naiburg, COO of Scrum.org, is joined by Darrell Fernandes, Executive Advisor at Scrum.org to explore how AI is showing up in Scrum Teams today—and what it really takes to make it valuable.Drawing from questions raised during a recent webinar: Managing Your AI Teammate: Turning AI from Experiment to Strategic Partner, they discuss practical ways teams are using AI as a research assistant, DevOps helper, and development aid. They emphasize why Scrum’s iterative mindset is critical for working with AI, especially given how quickly models, capabilities, and limitations evolve.The conversation tackles common misconceptions about AI replacing people, the importance of validating AI outputs, and why teams should consider writing a “job description” for AI to clearly define expectations, measures of success, and accountability. Eric and Darrell also explore how AI may automate some work while creating entirely new roles and opportunities for professionals.This is Part 1 of an ongoing conversation focused on helping Scrum Teams thoughtfully integrate AI while staying grounded in empiricism, collaboration, and value delivery.Key LearningsWhy there is no single model for integrating AI into Scrum—and why experimentation mattersHow Scrum’s inspect-and-adapt mindset applies directly to AI usagePractical examples of AI as a research assistant, DevOps helper, and development toolWhy teams must validate AI outputs to manage bias, accuracy, and complianceHow defining a job description for AI helps measure effectiveness and valuWhy AI is better viewed as a teammate or tool, not a replacement for peopleHow AI may eliminate some tasks while creating new roles and opportunitiesLinksWebinar - Managing Your AI Teammate: Turning AI from Experiment to Strategic PartnerWhitepaper - The AI Teammate Framework: A Four-Step Framework for Product Teams

Nabila Sattar Safdar, a Professional Scrum Trainer and expert in product portfolio management, shares her journey of transforming chaotic project environments into streamlined, value-driven strategies. She discusses successfully reducing a bloated portfolio from over 100 projects to just 30 strategic initiatives. Nabila emphasizes the importance of aligning teams with value streams, leveraging data for decision-making, and reserving team capacity for continuous learning. Her insights highlight how effective collaboration with leadership enhances organizational agility and focus on outcomes.