Organizations today increasingly recognize the critical importance of speed, adaptability and collaboration to stay competitive and thrive. According to Gartner, organizations that adopt product-centric operating models are 2.5 times more likely to complete successful digital transformations. Agile practices empower teams to respond quickly to customer needs, while product-focused models shift the mindset from delivering outputs to achieving real outcomes. This holistic approach allows cross-functional teams to own the entire process, fostering innovation and prioritizing customer value.
What makes this shift impactful is its proven success. Companies that embrace agile and product models are seeing faster time-to-market and higher customer satisfaction. As business ecosystems grow more complex, these strategies offer a flexible framework that helps organizations excel in a competitive world.
The future of work is undoubtedly moving toward a fusion of agility and outcome-driven models. In an insightful discussion on agile and the product operating model, Meshach Samuel, Senior Vice President at HCLTech, shared a compelling narrative of how enterprises are adapting and thriving amidst technological advancements and user expectations in the software development space.
Agile methodologies: The new standard in software development
Agile methodologies have become synonymous with effective and efficient software development. Samuel highlights the critical role of agile frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban and feature-driven development and Enterprise Agility to drive change at an organization level. "The adoption of these methodologies is not just a trend but a necessity for modern enterprises," he asserts.
Take, for example, HCLTech’s collaboration with a major financial services firm, which was driving agility but with only one of its business units and partnered with HCLTech to scale agile practices and thereby drive enterprise agility. By creating a robust scale journey, we were able to drive faster release cycles, improve deployment frequency, lower lead times to change, improve reliability and resilience as we drove cost reduction. "Incorporating agile frameworks allows teams to remain adaptable and responsive, which is crucial for the successful delivery of large-scale applications," explains Samuel. Today, over 97% of organizations practice agile development methods in some manner or another, while the number of people working in DevOps teams has risen.
In addition to leveraging Scrum and Kanban in Custom Application development, HCLTech has applied these methodologies to drive large-scale transformation programs like SAP S/4 HANA migrations, platform transformation and multi-country roll-outs. This approach has proven effective in striking the appropriate balance between scope and business need. The shift towards agile methodologies has redefined project management, emphasizing iterative progress and continuous improvement.
Product operating models: Aligning business goals with customer satisfaction
The concept of product operating models represents a strategic pivot for organizations aiming to enhance customer experience and business value driven. Samuel describes this approach as a way to bring companies closer to their business objectives. "By reorganizing enterprises into distinct capabilities managed by product teams, organizations can better focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences across value streams," he notes.
HCLTech's work with one of the largest European utility provider illustrates the effectiveness of product operating models. The provider was experiencing challenges with customer engagement and satisfaction due to a fragmented approach to product development. By restructuring into product teams focused on specific capabilities, HCLTech helped the retailer to improve responsiveness to customer needs and move to a business outcome based model of engagement. "This structure enables us to be more responsive and agile, directly impacting end-user satisfaction and driving higher engagement," he emphasizes.
The shift toward product operating models reflects a broader trend of aligning organizational structures with user-centric goals. His insights reveal how this approach not only enhances customer interactions but also enables a dynamic and effective organizational framework driven by OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
Generative AI in agile: Transforming the software development lifecycle
"Generative AI has the potential to significantly enhance productivity throughout the software development lifecycle," he asserts. According to McKinsey, organizations that leverage AI in their software development processes can reduce development time by up to 30%. This acceleration allows teams to focus on more strategic activities, such as innovation and feature enhancement.
HCLTech is leading the way in integrating GenAI into software development processes. In a recent project with a major Office Supply Retailer, HCLTech utilized AI-driven automation to streamline various stages of the software development lifecycle. This included automating the coding and testing phases, which resulted in a 30% reduction in development time and a significant improvement in software quality. "The integration of generative AI into these phases can streamline processes, reduce time to market and improve overall efficiency and product quality," explains Samuel. By automating routine tasks and enabling more sophisticated data analysis, generative AI offers new opportunities for growth and optimization even in phases like define, design, operational assurance and resilience engineering
As AI continues to evolve, it’s crucial to maintain robust security measures. “Balancing the drive for innovation with the need for stringent security protocols is essential,” he notes. The rise of AI-powered applications brings with it new security challenges, making it crucial to adopt tools and practices that ensure responsible AI usage. Samuel advocates for the implementation of comprehensive security assessments across the delivery chain to manage potential risks. By prioritizing responsible AI practices like explainability, bias detection, content safety, privacy protection, prompt injections, refusal scenarios, security guardrails etc., in every logical process-step of software delivery, organizations can safeguard against potential vulnerabilities while continuing to push the boundaries of technological advancement. Even if not implemented, Samuel believes that the awareness and actions that organizations are taking to measure, report and inculcate Responsible AI only improves the current state of organizations who do not even assess such risks due to their trust on humans.
GenAI opens new avenues for growth while necessitating robust security measures to safeguard data and maintain trust. Samuel’s insights highlight the importance of embracing these advancements responsibly. Ultimately, the integration of generative AI is a shift that will redefine how we approach software development in the years to come.
