The State of Agile 2023: Key Insights and Emerging Trends

"What's the future of Agile?" "Have Agile methodologies already reached their peak?" These questions come up for us regularly. So when we look at the state of agile 2023 and beyond, what's the world as we see it? The next 12 months will bring real shifts worth paying attention to: AI integration, value stream management, and agile spreading well beyond software development. Things are moving fast.

So whether you're just getting started with agile or you've been doing this for years, here are some of the most relevant insights to help you make sense of what's happening right now.

What the Data Tells Us: Key Findings from the Annual Report

The 16th Annual State of Agile Report, published by Digital.ai (formerly VersionOne), surveyed more than 10,000 respondents globally. Here are the numbers that matter:

• Widespread adoption: 97% of participants use agile methods, and 88% are pleased with the outcomes.

• Scrum dominance: Scrum remains the most popular agile framework, used by 87% of those surveyed. Not surprising, but worth noting how persistent that number is.

• Scaling agile frameworks: Over half of respondents (53%) use scaled agile frameworks such as SAFe or DAD, though we'd add that "using" and "using well" are very different things.

• Culture matters: 53% reported a lack of alignment between organisational culture and agile values as a significant obstacle. This one deserves more than a bullet point, honestly.

• Delivering business value: 90% of respondents feel their agile teams are meeting or exceeding objectives in delivering business value. Self-reported, of course, so take it with a grain of salt.

That culture stat is one we see play out constantly in our coaching work. We often joke about the 3 C's: communicate, communicate, communicate. And what we're communicating is the true goal. Agile is only the vehicle that might help us get there.

Agile Beyond Software: A Widening Scope

Agile methodologies aren't just living inside software teams anymore. Marketing, sales, customer service, they're all picking them up too. We've seen this first hand, from renovating a family home with sprints and cross-functional teams to helping health organisations improve engagement and productivity through simple retrospective techniques.

Organisations that embrace agile ways of working tend to respond faster to market changes. People in these settings are typically more engaged and satisfied because agile teams give them genuine ownership and collaboration. That said, we've also seen teams adopt the language of agile without changing much underneath, and that can actually make things worse. More frustrating, not less. This isn't theory for us. It's what we see every day in our scrum master and product owner coaching.

Agile Trends Shaping 2023 and Beyond

Several trends are worth watching closely:

• DevOps as a priority: Over 50% of organisations plan to source DevOps teams internally, which tells you how seriously they're taking skills development.

• Upskilling and cross-skilling: A competitive talent market is pushing organisations to build new skill sets within existing teams rather than hiring externally. Whether that investment sticks or fades when budgets tighten is another question entirely.

• Value stream management: This methodology tries to look at the full picture of how value gets created, from idea through delivery, and encourages teams to focus on end-to-end outcomes rather than just their own slice. In practice it's harder than it sounds, because getting everyone to agree on what "value" means can be its own multi-sprint saga.

• Design thinking integration: Teams are weaving design thinking into agile to keep product development focused on what customers actually need, not just what's easiest to build. We like this trend. We also think it sometimes becomes another layer of process that teams struggle to sustain.

• AI and machine learning: These technologies are increasingly part of agile practices, supporting better decision-making and automation. More on this below, because it deserves its own section and its own set of caveats.

AI and Agile Teams: Exciting, Messy, Still Unfolding

We can't talk about 2023 without talking about AI. As Medium's Artificial Corner puts it: "AI is not a replacement, but an augmentation of human intelligence and creativity. AI is not a dictator, but a supporter of better decisions. AI is not a shortcut, but a catalyst for deeper, more meaningful work."

We're seeing AI help agile teams with defect prediction through machine learning, more precise sprint planning based on historical data, smarter backlog prioritisation using natural language processing, and proactive risk assessment. These tools aren't replacing the human element. But, and I want to be honest here, we're still figuring out where the line is between useful augmentation and over-reliance. Some teams lean on AI outputs without questioning them, and that worries us a bit. The potential is real. So is the risk of treating the tool as an oracle instead of an input.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the state of agile in 2023?

The state of agile in 2023 shows continued widespread adoption with 97% of surveyed organisations using agile methods. Key trends include AI integration, value stream management, and the expansion of agile beyond software into areas like marketing and customer service. Organisational culture alignment remains a significant challenge for many, and frankly, it has been a challenge for years. The fact that it keeps showing up in these reports suggests we haven't cracked it yet.

What is the most popular agile framework?

Scrum. By a lot. 87% of respondents in the annual state of agile report use it. Scaled frameworks like SAFe and DAD are also widely adopted, with over 53% of organisations using them to coordinate agile across larger teams, though we'd note that SAFe in particular tends to generate strong opinions, both for and against.

How is AI changing agile teams?

AI is showing up in sprint planning, backlog prioritisation, risk assessment, and defect prediction. It can make teams faster at processing historical data and spotting patterns. That said, we think the conversation around AI in agile is still early and a little breathless. Not every team needs it, and the ones that adopt it too quickly without understanding their own processes first can end up more confused, not less. It supports better decisions when used thoughtfully. It's not magic.

Can agile be used outside of software development?

Yes. We've seen it work in marketing, sales, customer service, and even home renovations. The principles of iterative delivery, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous improvement can translate well to many complex environments. Can, not will. It depends on the people, the context, and whether leadership actually supports the change or just says they do.

Why do agile transformations fail?

This one is painful to answer because we've lived through it. The survey says 53% of respondents cite a lack of alignment between organisational culture and agile values. That's the clean version. The messy version involves executives who approve a transformation but don't change their own behaviour, middle managers who feel threatened by the shift, teams who get trained in agile but are still measured by the old system, and coaches, us included, who sometimes push too hard or not hard enough. Without clear vision, stakeholder alignment, and consistent communication, transformations stall. Sometimes they fail quietly and everyone just pretends it worked. Agile is not the goal. It's the vehicle. But sometimes the vehicle gets parked in the garage and nobody drives it.

Ready to Start Your Agile Journey?

Agile adoption continues to grow. The organisations that invest in the right education, coaching, and cultural alignment are the ones seeing real results. That much seems clear from the data. But we'd be lying if we said every transformation goes smoothly, or that there's a formula you can follow that guarantees success. There isn't. Some of this is genuinely hard, and it stays hard even after you've been doing it for a while.

If you're looking for guidance on your agile transformation, whether that's building a roadmap, upskilling your teams, or simply finding clarity on what comes next, we'd love to help. We'd also love to hear what's not working, because that's usually where the most useful conversations start.

Book a complimentary 30-minute coaching call with Twenty2 Collective and let's have a real conversation about where you are and where you want to go. Get in touch with us today.