Business Agility: Eight Key Market Developments

Organizations are moving beyond isolated agile practices to embrace agility as a holistic operating model. This transformation involves a fundamental reimagining of structure, processes, culture, and leadership. Companies are flattening hierarchies and fostering cross-functional collaboration, decentralizing decision-making to empower employees at all levels. This shift creates an adaptive, customer-centric organization that values continuous learning and experimentation.

In the past, sticking to long-term strategies often meant sacrificing flexibility. In today’s fast-changing environment, balancing a clear strategic vision with the ability to pivot is crucial. Instead of viewing strategy as a static, long-term plan, the agile approach sees it as an iterative process. As market conditions evolve, we adjust strategies accordingly. This allows businesses to respond quickly to new opportunities and challenges, keeping initiatives aligned with both customer needs and overall business goals.

As product development teams adopt DevOps, other business functions are adapting to this decentralized way of working. Traditional hierarchical oversight is giving way to a more collaborative, cross-functional approach that aligns with the fast-paced, iterative nature of modern development practices. This shift is being mirrored in other business areas—FinOps, SecOps, DevNetOps, you name it —where agility and autonomy are increasingly prized. Businesses are pushing the boundaries of these 'Ops' models, pursuing greater responsibility and empowerment at every level of the organization.

Although Agile started in software, it’s now making a strong impact across industries like high-tech products and pharmaceuticals. Companies are adapting Agile and Lean practices to fit the unique needs of these sectors. By combining these methods with cutting-edge technologies, they’re shortening product development cycles and improving efficiency. Industries that once struggled to implement Agile are now using its core principles—fast feedback, iterative development, customer & value focus and continuous improvement—to enhance their processes and bring products to market faster.

Companies that were traditionally highly decentralized are now rapidly centralizing their IT systems for several key reasons. First, efficiency plays a major role, as organizations aim to avoid reinventing the wheel across different teams or regions. Centralizing IT also enhances agility, since collaboration enables companies to adopt new technology trends faster, which leads to more localized solutions reapplied globally. Additionally, centralized governance helps address the growing concerns around cybersecurity threats and ensures better data integrity. Lastly, the shortage of specialized talent, particularly in areas like Cloud and AI, is prompting companies to centralize their IT functions to make the most of these scarce resources.

As of 2024, only one-third of European companies have moved 50% or more of their workloads to the cloud. This leaves significant room for growth, and with it, the full adoption of cloud capabilities and DevOps practices will likely continue to expand. Beyond the obvious benefits of speed and flexibility, cloud-enabled agility is reshaping how teams are structured and influencing company culture. As organizations adapt to this cloud-driven model, we are likely to see more cross-functional teams and a stronger emphasis on collaboration.

For data professionals, the main frustration remains: when will businesses fully recognize the value of data? The growing buzz around AI already serves as the next major catalyst, driving a trend toward decentralizing data ownership. More businesses are aligning data management with the specific needs of the departments they serve. This shift, paired with a growing focus on thinking of data as a product, is changing how data is structured and managed.

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing Agile practices, especially in areas like testing, quality assurance, AI-assisted code reviews, and continuous compliance monitoring. These AI tools are expected to boost productivity and quality, but they also raise important questions: How will integrated AI capabilities change the way people develop software and products? Will practices like pair programming remain essential, or will we move toward more individualistic approaches? And does the Agile principle of "individuals and interactions over processes and tools" still hold true in this evolving landscape?

The trend toward business agility is far from over; it is rapidly becoming a fundamental requirement for organizations aiming to remain relevant in an ever-changing market landscape. As companies continue to adapt to new technologies and shifting consumer expectations, embracing agility will be essential for fostering innovation, enhancing responsiveness, and achieving sustainable growth. The integration of agile principles across various sectors will not only drive efficiency but also empower organizations to navigate complexity with confidence.

We expect to see more companies attempt to ‘cross the chasm’ as we predicted should be happening years ago. We know this to be a tricky endeavor affecting all aspects of an organization’s operating model: from organizational structures to rewards systems, from budget processes to leadership behaviors. If you recognize your organization in any of the above, we are always there to help you along the journey