JPMorgan MD: Agile has been "hijacked" by non-engineers

As banks transform their technology architecture, they also look to transform their engineering cultures. For the past few years, this has meant an instigating agile methodology en masse. One senior JPMorgan technologist, however, believes that agile is currently a shell of itself.

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Scot Baldry, chief information officer for corporate technology at JPMorgan, said on social media that agile has been "hijacked for commercial gain by so-called experts, losing the very essence of why it was created in the first place," agreeing with a post from consultant André Baken that asserted that agile was "dead."

Baken said that agile had been pedalled as a "miracle cure," and a substitute for change management processes by consultants looking to make money from agile's implementation. It's not.

The reality, for Baldry, is that agile's usefulness is dependent on the requirements of what is being delivered. If requirements are perfect or reliable, he says "waterfall is likely the optimal delivery methodology." Agile works better when requirements are more unclear or concise, allowing you to incrementally refine your solution.

Baldy is doubtful that many agile consultants are able to understand when to use the methodology. Baldry says many agile coaches "have no engineering backgrounds;" without them, you are unlikely to understand the challenges of requirements, nor "factors that could improve these outcomes."

Other senior technologists agree. Teresa Kingswood, CIO of RBS International, and a former Goldman Sachs MD, said agile coaches "simply must" have engineering backgrounds. John Marshall, an ex-Credit Suisse director, said agile isn't a "silver bullet," and should be viewed as a mindset rather than a process. Edmondo Porcu, a distinguished engineer at Capital One, said agile without a strong engineering culture is just an "iterative waterfall."

Baldry's employer is more pro-agile than most. Over 90% of the bank's teams are using agile practices, and over 60% have changed success metrics to reflect agile methodology. Its asset and wealth management CEO Mary Callahan Erdoes says the bank wants to be agile, rather than do it... this is easier said than done.

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