# harrison-maniar-mckinsey-reshaping-software-delivery-agents-2025-11-23

## Veille

McKinsey - Software Delivery - Agile Transition - AI Native Workflows - Spec-driven Development

## Titre Article

Moving away from Agile: What's Next? Reshaping Software Delivery with Agents

## Date

2025-11-23

## URL

https://www.youtube.com/live/cMSprbJ95jg?si=4HnxK8w1ELvSr4tz&t=8403

## Keywords

McKinsey, Software Delivery, Agile, AI Native, Operating Model, Spec-driven Development, Team Topology, Change Management, Productivity Metrics

## Authors

Martin Harrison (Partner, McKinsey), Natasha Maniar (Partner, McKinsey)

## Ton

**Profile:** Strategic Consulting | Organizational Transformation | Managerial | Analytical

The tone is that of high-level management consulting: structured, data-driven (surveys, case studies), and oriented toward organizational transformation ("Change Management"). They use "Enterprise" vocabulary (Operating Model, SDLC, KPIs, Bottom performers vs Top performers). The approach is prescriptive but nuanced, emphasizing that technology alone is not enough without a rework of human processes. It is a "Rewiring" discourse for the enterprise in the AI era.

## Pense-betes

- **The traditional Agile model is reaching its limits** with AI: individual productivity gains do not necessarily translate at the team level (only 5-15% overall gain observed at most clients).
- **New bottlenecks**: Human collaboration, manual code review (explosion in code volume), technical debt generated by AI.
- **Transition to "AI Native Workflows"**:
- Shift from "Story-driven" to **"Spec-driven development"** (iterating on specifications with agents rather than on vague user stories).
- Continuous planning rather than quarterly.
- **Evolution of roles ("AI Native Roles")**:
- Shift from "Two pizza" teams (8-10 people) to more autonomous **"One pizza pods"** (3-5 people).
- Consolidated roles (QA + Dev + Ops) thanks to AI. Developers become "orchestrators."
- Product Managers prototype directly in code.
- **Importance of "Change Management"**: 70% of companies have not changed their role definitions. Successes come from multiple interventions (training, certification, redefining expectations).
- **Measuring impact**: Need for holistic metrics (Speed, Quality, Developer satisfaction/NPS, Business outcomes) and not just adoption.

## RésuméDe400mots

Martin Harrison and Natasha Maniar of McKinsey present a vision of software development transformation in the AI era, arguing that the traditional Agile model must evolve. Despite spectacular individual productivity gains from coding agents, many large enterprises plateau at an overall improvement of only 5 to 15%. This gap is explained by the emergence of new bottlenecks: manual code review that no longer keeps pace with generation speed, human collaboration ill-suited to the new cadence, and increased technical complexity.

To unlock value, McKinsey identifies among "Top Performers" a transition toward **"AI Native" workflows and roles**:
1.  **From "User Stories" to "Specs"**: Instead of iterating on vague textual descriptions, teams move to "Spec-driven development," where Product Managers (PMs) and developers iterate on precise technical specifications with agents, sometimes generating prototypes directly.
2.  **Team reorganization**: The standard Agile team model (8-10 people) gives way to smaller, more autonomous "pods" (3-5 people, "One pizza teams"). Roles consolidate: less rigid specialization (separate QA, Frontend, Backend) and more "full-stack" profiles orchestrating agents.
3.  **Continuous planning**: AI enables shorter planning cycles (from quarterly to continuous) and real-time roadmap adaptation.

They present a case study of an international bank that reorganized its teams around specific workflows (bug fixing vs. greenfield) and used agents for task assignment and compliance verification, resulting in a 51% increase in code merges.

The talk places heavy emphasis on **change management**. Technology alone is not enough; 70% of companies have not yet adapted their job descriptions. Success depends on a holistic approach including training ("upskilling"), redefining incentives (certifications, career paths), and rigorous measurement of impact (beyond mere adoption, looking at delivery speed, quality, and business outcomes). The future belongs to organizations capable of "rewiring" their operating model for symbiotic human-agent collaboration.

## GrapheDeConnaissance

- McKinsey —affirme_que→ le modèle Agile atteint ses limites avec les agents IA (AFFIRMATION, 0.95)
- Martin Harrison —travaille_chez→ McKinsey (ORGANISATION, 0.98)
- Natasha Maniar —travaille_chez→ McKinsey (ORGANISATION, 0.98)
- Spec-driven development —remplace→ Story-driven development (METHODOLOGIE, 0.85)
- agents IA —permet→ dette technique (CONCEPT, 0.85)
- One pizza pods —remplace→ Two pizza teams (CONCEPT, 0.8)
- revue de code manuelle —est_instance_de→ goulot d'étranglement du développement IA (CONCEPT, 0.9)
- AI Native Workflows —améliore→ fusions de code (CONCEPT, 0.85)
- gestion du changement —permet→ succès transformation IA (CONCEPT, 0.92)
- Product Managers —utilise→ agents IA (prototypage en code) (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.8)
- entreprises top performers —utilise→ workflows AI Native (METHODOLOGIE, 0.88)

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Canonical: https://www.thekb.eu/en/fiches/harrison-maniar-mckinsey-reshaping-software-delivery-agents-2025-11-23/