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About AgileFirst.io

This blog is written by Michael August, an experienced agile engineering leader with over 30 years in the software industry. His experience, includes:

  • Innovatech
    As CTO, Michael led the migration from waterfall to agile, scaling engineering from 40 to over 150 engineers distributed globally.
  • CloudMatrix
    As VP of Engineering, Michael oversaw CloudMatrix's transition to agile, breaking down silos between product, engineering, and design. This improved release velocity by over 40%.
  • DataSense
    As Director of Software Delivery, Michael coached multiple teams on agile adoption, implemented CI/CD pipelines and test automation strategies enabling faster release cycles.

Michael brings a wealth of expertise in all aspects of agile development, leadership, and delivery. He has served as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering at multiple high-growth technology companies leading the transition to agile methodologies.

His experience spans a diverse range of industries including SaaS, digital media, e-commerce, and enterprise software. Michael has led agile transformations of small startups to large global engineering teams with over 200 engineers.

As an early adopter of extreme programming, Michael helped introduce agile practices long before they entered the mainstream. He is a certified Scrum Master and an active member of the agile community, continuously learning and refining his approach.

Michael is passionate about sharing his real-world lessons learned with other leaders and teams wanting to unlock the benefits of agile. His writing comes from decades of hands-on experience both "in the trenches" building products using agile, as well as coaching teams on how to evolve their process and culture.

He brings an honest and practical perspective to help teams on their agile journey. His focus is providing actionable advice to practitioners based on what actually works - not just theory.

Drawing on his extensive background, Michael provides the right guidance to take your agile adoption to the next level and deliver more value to customers.

Independent, Ad-free Public

The AgileFirst blog is an independent, ad-free publication. We provide unbiased insights and advice on agile best practices without being influenced by outside interests.

Many popular technology sites rely heavily on advertising revenue and sponsored content. While this can help fund the creation of quality content, it also creates potential conflicts of interest. Advertisers or sponsors may influence what topics are covered and how they are presented.

At AgileFirst, we want to deliver the most honest, well-researched advice on agile methodologies - not what advertisers want us to promote. Our focus is solely on providing practitioners with the best information on the latest techniques, practices and tools so they can transform how their teams build software.

We do this by combining decades of hands-on experience with ongoing research and analysis of the latest industry advancements. Our independence allows us to be fully transparent and share what actually works - whether it aligns with specific vendors, technologies or not.

By keeping AgileFirst ad-free, we avoid any bias or outside influence on our content. Our only commitment is to our readers and their agile success.

Partnerships

At agilefirst.io, we believe in the power of partnerships. We are always open to exploring win-win partnerships with other organizations that can help further our mission of promoting agile best practices.

Potential partnership opportunities include:

  • Content Partnerships - We are interested in syndicating content from industry experts and thought leaders. This is a great way to grow our audiences together.
  • Event Partnerships - We regularly hold online and in-person events focused on agile. If you host relevant events, we may be interested in collaboration opportunities. This could include cross-promotion, bundled tickets, and joint workshops.
  • Sponsorships - We offer a range of sponsorship opportunities for our blog, newsletter, podcast and events. Sponsors receive brand exposure to our engaged community of agile practitioners.
  • Strategic Alliances - We are open to exploring mutually beneficial strategic alliances with other agile businesses. This could include cross-promotion, content sharing, or even joint ventures.
  • Research Partnerships - We are interested in collaborating with academics and researchers on studies related to agile methodologies. This is a great way to advance the industry together.

If you are interested in partnering with us, please reach out at hello at agilefirst dot io with the subject line including the word partnership opportunity.

We look forward to exploring ways we can work together.

History

Agile First is an independent, ad-free publication first launched in June 2022 by Stephen M. Walker II, co-founder and CEO of the LLM App Platform company Klu. If you subscribe today, you'll get full access to the website as well as email newsletters about new content when it's available. Your subscription makes this site possible, and allows Agile First to continue to exist. Thank you!

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