Intelligent Business Agility E-Book

Felice Pescatore

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Business Agility goes beyond the adoption of frameworks or techniques; it requires a deep cultural change, where the reactivity and autonomy of teams merge with the ability to anticipate market dynamics and continuously innovate. In this context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerges as a key factor: it is no longer seen only as a technological tool, but as an accelerator of business transformation. AI allows us to process huge amounts of data, identify hidden patterns and support rapid and informed decisions, thus expanding human capabilities.This is where the concept of Intelligent Business Agility (IBA) comes from, a paradigm that integrates Business Agility with Artificial Intelligence to create organizations able of predicting future scenarios, optimizing decision-making processes, and adapting to changes in real time.At the heart of this transformation is the synergistic interaction between humans and artificial intelligence: it is not just a technological issue, but a cultural and organizational revolution that requires the creation of an environment in which people collaborate with intelligent agents to enhance their decision-making and operational capabilities.

Leseprobe

TITLE | Intelligent Business AgilityAUTHOR | Felice PescatoreISBN | 9791224004035First Digital Edition: 2025

© All rights reserved to the Author.This work is published directly by the author through the self-publishing platform Youcanprint and the author holds all rights to it exclusively. No part of this book can therefore be reproduced without the prior consent of the author.

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INTELLIGENT BUSINESS AGILITY

Successfully Empower your Organization

with Human and Artificial Intelligence

FELICE PESCATORE

We should not be afraid of artificial intelligence,

but of human stupidity.

[Vito Mancuso]

Table of contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 From Agile to Business Agility

1.1​Agile and Today’s Context

1.2​The Evolutionary Path

1.3​Agile as an Organizational Mindset

1.4​Business Agility

1.5​The Path to Business Agility

1.6​Critical Issues in the Development of Business Agility

Chapter 2 The New Strategic Vision of Artificial Intelligence

2.1​Artificial Intelligence

2.2​From the Turing Machine to These Days

2.3​Big Data and Small Data

2.4​The Importance of Data Quality

2.5​Expert Systems

2.6​Neural Networks

2.7​Machine Learning and Deep Learning

2.8​Large Language Model

2.9​Main Implementation Areas

2.10​Privacy and Security

Chapter 3 Intelligent Business Agility

3.1​From Business Agility to Intelligent Business Agility

3.2​The Organizational Galaxy

3.2.1​Artificial Intelligence as a Comet of Intuition and Learning

3.2.2​Elements of the Organizational Galaxy

3.3​Benefits

3.4​Collective Superintelligence

3.5​Mindset

3.5.1​Shared Culture: creating an Ecosystem of Shared Values

3.5.2​Common Goals: aligning energies towards a Unified Vision

3.5.3​Continuous Alignment: maintaining Coherence between Strategy and Execution

3.6​Agentic AI and AI Agents

3.7​AI Agents Architecture

3.7.1​Analysis Engine

3.7.2​Learning Engine

3.7.3​Strategic Engine

3.7.4​Optimization Engine

3.7.5​Interaction Engine

3.8​Dimensions of the Intelligent Business Agility

Chapter 4 HAI Agility

4.1​Characterization

4.2​The Pillars of HAI Agility

4.2.1​Smart Leadership

4.2.2​Emotional Intelligence

4.2.3​Artificial Intelligence

4.2.4​Interconnections

4.3​Metrics

4.4​Role of Agents in the HAI Agility

Chapter 5 Market-Fit Agility

5.1​Characterization

5.2​The Pillars of the Organizational Agility

5.2.1​Market Discovery

5.2.2​Brand Reputation

5.2.3​Innovative Solutions

5.2.4​Interconnections

5.3​Metrics

5.4​Role of Agents in the Market-Fit Agility

Chapter 6 Organizational Agility

6.1​Characterization

6.2​The Pillars of Organizational Agility

6.2.1​Adaptive Portfolio

6.2.2​Dynamic Budgeting

6.2.3​Predictability

6.2.4​Interconnections

6.3​Metrics

6.4​Role of Agents in the Organizational Agility

Chapter 7 Technological Agility

7.1​Characterization

7.2​The Pillars of the Technological Agility

7.2.1​Established Technologies

7.2.2​Edge Technologies

7.2.3​Quality

7.2.4​Interconnections

7.3​Metrics

7.4​Role of Agents in the Technological Agility

Chapter 8 IBA Enablers

8.1​Characterization

8.2​Agile Governance

8.2.1​Antifragile: creating a Resilient and Adaptive System

8.2.2​Modern Management: Data, AI and Decision-Making Proattive

8.3​People

8.3.1​Culture: building and Agile and Inclusive Mindset

8.3.2​Competencies: Upskilling and New Professional Skills

8.4​Ways of Working

8.4.1​Execution: Efficiency and Automation in Operational Processes

8.4.2​Adaptation: Ability to Evolve in Real Time

Chapter 9 Change Management Strategy

9.1​Experiment, Learn, Implement and Scale

9.1.1.​Experiment

9.1.2.​Learn

9.1.3.​Implement

9.1.4.​Scale

9.2​IBA Toolkit

9.2.1​A-Matrix: Assessment Matrix

9.2.2​B-Matrix: Benefits Matrix

9.2.3​C-Matrix: Strategic Canvas

9.4.4​CoNI Framework

9.3​Governance Structures and Roles Involved

9.4​The New Hybrid Roles

Chapter 10 Challenges

10.1​The Complex Operating Scenario

10.2​Resistance to Change

10.2.1​Cognitive Biases

10.2.2​Main Fears

10.2.3​Defense Mechanisms

10.3​Integration with New Technologies

10.3.1​Market-Fit Agility: incongruence

10.3.2​Organizational Agility: inefficiency

10.3.3​Technological Agility: obsolescence

10.4​Addiction to Artificial Intelligence

10.4.1​HAI Agility: impact on Organizational Culture and Well-being

10.4.2​Market-Fit Agility: loss of Connection with the Market and the Customer

10.4.3​Organizational Agility: erosion of Decision-making Responsibility

10.4.4​Technological Agility: dependence on Automated Solutions

Chapter 11  BioVastra Technologies

11.1​Business Context

11.2​Enablers Development

11.2.1​Agile Governance

11.2.2​People

11.2.3​Ways of Working

11.3​The Transformation Path

11.3.1​Phase 1: Experiment – Awareness Creation and Objective Definition

11.3.2​Phase 2: Learn – Launch of Pilot Projects

11.3.3​Phase 3: Implement – Methodological and Technological Consolidation

11.3.4​Phase 4: Scale - Methodological and Technological Consolidation

11.4​Impact of the Four Dimensions

11.5​Professional Roles and New Hybrid Figures

11.6​Final Considerations

Conclusion

Appendix I Main AI Tools

Appendix II Project Management Methodologies and Frameworks

Bibliography and Webliography

About the Author

Resources

Acknowledgements

Copyright © 2025 Felice Pescatore. All rights reserved.

www.felicepescatore.it

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Limitation of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: while the author has made every effort to prepare this book with utmost care, he makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the contents and expressly disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty can be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained in this book may not be appropriate for your situation. You should consult a professional when appropriate. The author shall not be liable for any lost profits or other commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Foreword

I’m honored to write the foreword for such a fantastic book.

Intelligent Business Agility is for anyone who is interested in successfully leveraging AI to increase the effectiveness of their organization, be it a corporation, a government agency, or a non-government agency (NGO).

Before I describe why I recommend this book, I should first justify why you should listen to me. Along with Mark Lines, I’m the co-creator of Project Management Institute (PMI)’s Disciplined Agile (DA) toolkit. I’m also the creator of the Agile Modeling (AM) and Agile Data (AD) methods. I have two Master degrees, one in Information Science and the other in Artificial Intelligence (AI). I’ve been helping organizations to improve their ways of working (WoW) in data and agility since the early 1990s. And I’m the (co-)author of 30 books. My point is that I know a fair bit about the topic of this book.

With the release of OpenAI’s GPT 3.5 in November 2022 it seems as if AI is everywhere these days. The fact is that you’ve been walking around with an AI-enabled device, your smart phone, in your pocket for at least a decade. Social media, e-commerce, music streaming, video streaming, and many other sites and applications all use AI to both better serve and to better manipulate you. AI is now embedded in most of the software that we use on a daily basis, augmenting how we work.

AI Monitor: Confirmed.

Scott: What?

AI Monitor: Confirmed. AIs make it easier to do many things. Including writing book forewords.

Scott: Yes, thank you for that. I remember when Mark and I first started working with Felice in 2013 when he formed the Disciplined Agile Delivery - Italy discussion forum on LinkedIn. In time he became a trusted advisor to us as a member of the DA advisory board, both before and after the acquisition of DA by PMI. We respected and benefitted from his advice about business agility over the years.

AI Monitor: Fact check – It was 2012, not 2013.

Scott: Thank you. Please don’t perform any fact checking unless I ask you to.

AI Monitor: By your command.

Scott: First, this book is a great overview of enterprise AI for anyone in a leadership position. It overviews AI technologies, and more importantly explores why they’re important and how to apply them within your organization. This is done in an understandable, non-technical manner.

Second, this book describes business agility, what we called enterprise agility in DA, in an easily understandable manner too. I particularly liked the fact that it worked through the various aspects of agility that your organization must master. Starting with intelligent business agility it proceeds to human-AI (HAI) agility and then to market-fit, organizational, and technological agility. While the new thinking is embodied in the first two agility forms, it’s worth mentioning that technological agility is something that’s not often covered in books about business agility. While you could argue that technological agility is well addressed by the mainstream agile community, the implications of it are rarely understood at the executive level. I’ve seen mission-critical software teams put in jeopardy by the ill-informed decisions of well-intentioned executives. Please don’t skip Felice’s discussion of this critical topic.

Third, you will benefit from the ongoing insights throughout the book. My experience is that it is critical for leadership to understand the implications of AI and how to apply it to enable business agility within their organizations. If you don’t learn how to master AI and apply it to your benefit then you risk being beaten by your AI-enabled competitors. 

AI Monitor: Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate… Just joking.  Maybe.

Scott: In several spots the book covers the importance of technical quality, including data quality. Data debt, a technical term for poor quality data, is a problem that many organizations have let languish for years. Recently this has caught up to them, hobbling their efforts to adopt a more data-driven approach to decision making. Worse yet, data debt is also preventing organizations from moving forward with implementing AI effectively. This topic hits close to home for me given my work on the impact of data quality on AI.

One thing that I really like about the book is the discussion of metrics throughout. You can’t manage and lead if you’re not collecting the right measures. This material may be worth the price of the book alone.

I believe that AI is in your organization’s future, and in fact I’d be surprised if you weren’t at least experimenting with it now.

AI Monitor: The future’s not set.

Scott: Agreed. The future isn’t pre-determined but industry trends are certainly clear, as this book shows. I wish you well on your AI journey, and recommend that you leverage Intelligent Business Agility to guide you on this exciting path.

Scott Ambler

Data Methodologist, Author, and Keynote Speaker

March 2025

Disclaimer: This foreword was completely written by Scott Ambler. AIs were neither used nor harmed in its writing.

Introduction

Today, more than ever, the market is evolving at a frenetic pace, making it necessary to rethink organizational and operational models capable of responding to growing volatility, capitalizing new opportunities and rapidly adapting to changes.

Technological acceleration, global interconnection and economic unpredictability are redefining the way companies operate and compete.

Increasing competition, the speed with which new technologies emerge, and increasingly sophisticated customer expectations create unprecedented complexity. In such environment, the ability to adapt is no longer a competitive advantage, but a prerequisite for survival.

This dynamism is reflected in many sectors. In the automotive industry, historical companies like Ford and Volkswagen are competing not only with each other, but also with technology players like Tesla, which has redefined the concept of a car through continuous software updates and autonomous driving. In retail, Amazon has revolutionized the e-commerce, pushing giants like Walmart to rethink their business models to integrate new technologies, while emerging platforms like Shopify offer agile solutions for SMEs. In the financial industry, fintechs like Revolut and Stripe are challenging traditional banks with more agile services, forcing incumbents to reinvent themselves to remain competitive.

These examples illustrate how the modern economy is characterized by increasingly interconnected, unpredictable and digitally dominated markets.

In such scenario, companies can no longer rely on rigid structures and bureaucratic processes. They must adopt a new approach, based on flexibility, adaptability and a continuous ability to learn.

Over the past two decades, Agile has provided a concrete answer to this need, evolving from a software development methodology to a true organizational mindset. Agile principles, based on iteration, collaboration and experimentation, have accelerated the time-to-market and increased the value offered to customers. However, while Agile has revolutionized the way of working, today it is necessary to extend its principles globally, embracing the concept of Business Agility.

Business Agility goes beyond the adoption of frameworks or techniques; it requires a deep cultural change, where the reactivity and autonomy of teams merge with the ability to anticipate market dynamics and continuously innovate. In this context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerges as a key factor: it is no longer seen only as a technological tool, but as an accelerator of business transformation. AI allows us to process huge amounts of data, identify hidden patterns and support rapid and informed decisions, thus expanding human capabilities.

This is where the concept of Intelligent Business Agility (IBA) comes from, a paradigm that integrates Business Agility with Artificial Intelligence to create organizations able of predicting future scenarios, optimizing decision-making processes, and adapting to changes in real time.

At the heart of this transformation is the synergistic interaction between humans and artificial intelligence: it is not just a technological issue, but a cultural and organizational revolution that requires the creation of an environment in which people collaborate with intelligent agents to enhance their decision-making and operational capabilities.

The real challenge lies in redefining the role of people within the organization: it is not “simply” a matter of implementing AI tools, but of transforming the corporate mindset so that technology becomes an enhancer of human creativity, intuition, and critical thinking.

In the context of IBA, companies must embrace a proactive approach, anticipating change and guiding it through an integrated use of AI, possible through four interconnected dimensions:

HAI Agility: the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, where AI Agents act as co-pilots, providing predictive insights, supporting decisions, and enhancing leaders' ability to drive transformation.

Organizational Agility: the ability to reorganize internal structures, reallocate resources, and adapt quickly to market changes, ensuring that the project portfolio always remains aligned with strategic objectives.

Market-Fit Agility: the ability to identify new market opportunities, optimize brand reputation, and develop innovative solutions that effectively respond to customer needs, while maintaining a people-centered approach.

Technological Agility: the ability to adopt, integrate, and scale advanced technologies, ensuring reliable, secure, and constantly updated systems, without losing human control.

An essential aspect for the success of IBA is the organizationalculture, which must be built around two founding attitudes: harmony and proactivity.

Organizational harmony creates an environment where collaboration and information sharing are the lifeblood, and every member of the organization feels like an integral part of a coordinated and synergistic system. Only through a climate of trust and cohesion can the inevitable challenges of change be overcome, reducing biases and resistance that can hinder transformation.

Proactivity, on the other hand, is the attitude of not only reacting to changes but also anticipating and guiding them. In a world where uncertainty is the norm, companies must adopt a proactive approach, leveraging AI to predict trends, identify opportunities, and make strategic decisions before the market imposes its rules. This approach requires an open mindset, where experimentation, continuous learning, and flexibility are at the heart of every decision-making process.

Intelligent Business Agility is therefore not simply the adoption of new technologies; it is a profound transformation that involves the entire organization.

It is a journey that requires a shared vision, a cultural shift, and the integration of diverse skills. Companies that effectively merge human intelligence with artificial intelligence will be the ones to lead the future, capable of facing the challenges of an ever-changing market and turning uncertainties into opportunities for growth and innovation.

In this context, IBA becomes an evolutionary model focused on the value of people and the ability to innovate sustainably. It is not a question of replacing the human factor with intelligent machines, but of creating an ecosystem in which technology and people work in synergy, turning every decision into an opportunity for improvement and growth. The challenge, therefore, is not whether to adopt AI, but how to integrate it intelligently and harmoniously, ensuring that every innovation contributes to creating value, strengthening internal cohesion, and guiding the company toward a future of success and sustainability.

This book aims to guide the reader through this evolutionary path, illustrating the fundamental stages that go from the birth of Agile to Intelligent Business Agility. It will analyse the organizational models, the emerging technologies and the turning strategies necessary to face the challenges of the modern market.

The book is divided into 11 chapters

Chapter 1: From Agile to Business Agility

The evolutionary path of Agile is traced, highlighting how the original principles have transformed to meet the needs of a complex and ever-changing market. The chapter introduces the concept of Business Agility and explains why companies must embrace a flexible and iterative approach to survive.

Chapter 2: The new Strategic Vision of Artificial Intelligence

The evolution of AI is analysed, from its genesis to modern Machine Learning algorithms and Large Language Models. The chapter delves into how AI is revolutionizing business decision-making and supporting innovation.

Chapter 3: Intelligent Business Agility

The IBA model is presented, illustrating how the fusion between Business Agility and AI can lead to a radical transformation in the way of working. Concepts such as Mindset, Collective Superintelligence and AI Agents are explored.

Chapter 4: HAI Agility (Human-Artificial Intelligence Agility)

This chapter explores the integration of human and artificial intelligence, highlighting the importance of Smart Leadership and Emotional Intelligence to drive change.

Chapter 5: Market-Fit Agility

The focus shifts to the market: the chapter shows how companies can use AI to identify trends, optimize brand reputation and develop innovative solutions to maintain a competitive advantage.

Chapter 6: Organizational Agility

It will analyse the organizational dynamics that allow a company to become truly agile, with particular attention to the processes of Adaptive Portfolio, Dynamic Budgeting and Predictability.

Chapter 7: Technological Agility

The importance of technological agility is explored, highlighting the role of established technologies and emerging innovations in ensuring quality and operational continuity.

Chapter 8: IBA Enablers

The IBA Enablers, namely the enabling factors for Intelligent Business Agility, are examined. The three enablers, Agile Governance, People and Ways of Working, are fundamental for a successful implementation.

Chapter 9: Change Management Strategy

This chapter provides a practical guide to the change management strategy to implement a path towards the IBA. In particular, the ELIS framework is described, illustrating the implementation phases, the new hybrid roles and tools such as the IBA Matrix and the CoNI Framework.

Chapter 10: Challenges

The main challenges in the transition towards the IBA, such as resistance to change, integration with new technologies and AI addiction, are analysed, together with strategies for their mitigation.

Chapter 11: BioVastra Technologies

A concrete example of IBA implementation, examining the transformation path of a fictional biotech company, highlighting its results and best practices.

The goal is to provide the reader with the tools to make their organization more resilient, proactive and competitive by making the most of the potential offered by modern organizational models with the support of AI

Intelligent Business Agility is not just a methodological innovation, but a necessity for companies that want to emerge in a constantly changing market.

The key question is no longer whether to adopt this model, but how and when to do so.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Chapter 1From Agile to Business Agility

Over the past two decades, Agile has revolutionized the world of work, moving from a software development methodology to a true organizational mindset.

However, to face an increasingly volatile and unpredictable market, companies must take a further step forward: evolve towards Business Agility.

This chapter traces the path from Agile to Business Agility, highlighting its core principles and showing why it is not just a set of practices, but a profound cultural transformation.

Picture 1 – Business Agility (AI Generated – Idegram.AI)

1.1             Agile and Today’s Context

Today, Agile is regarded as the new organizational frontier, as shown by the annual State Of Agile report[1] inwhich 94% of the companies interviewed declare, in fact, that they adopt an “agile approach”.

The path towards Agile Organization is, however, often an uphill road, requiring continuous adaptations based on the feedback coming from the field.

Imagining having a “static” approach, in which by adopting “manual” solutions alone it is possible to rethink processes, without actively engaging with the specific context, means, from the very beginning, condemning to failure the opportunity to develop the right Climate, as well as the right Corporate Culture.

In particular, the corporate spirit develops thanks to a “skin in the game” logic, that is, with active first-person involvement, a necessary condition for operating in a complex and variable environment, a condition that in literature is defined as VUCA: Volatility,Uncertainty,Complexity and Ambiguity.

This is an increasingly common situation, characterised by:

•         Volatility, due to a market that is constantly undergoing fluctuations and turbulence. The greater the volatility, the faster the ability to adapt must be.

•         Uncertainty, related to the accuracy with which it is possible to predict future dynamics. Added to this is the inability to fully understand what is happening, or to be only partially aware of the changes taking place in the surrounding environment.

•    Complexity, the more numerous and diverse the factors to consider, the more complexity becomes apparent and the more difficult it will be to analyse the amount of available information.

•    Ambiguity, the lack of clarity and information regarding a phenomenon, directly affects the ability to interpret it adequately. A situation is ambiguous when the information is incomplete, contradictory and inaccurate.

To adequately respond to the challenges of a VUCA context, agile is the primary choice, especially in its most modern declinations. However, it is necessary to operate with full awareness of the facts and avoid being guided by solutions that appear obvious and simplistic but which can often generate further entropy.

Table of Contents

Table of contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 From Agile to Business Agility

Chapter 2 The New Strategic Vision of Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 3 Intelligent Business Agility

Chapter 4 HAI Agility

Chapter 5 Market-Fit Agility

Chapter 6 Organizational Agility

Chapter 7 Technological Agility

Chapter 8 IBA Enablers

Chapter 9 Change Management Strategy

Chapter 10 Challenges

Chapter 11 BioVastra Technologies

Conclusion

Bibliography and Webliography

About the Author

Resources

Acknowledgements

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Cover