Survey Results: Agile to the Product Operating Model

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Agile to Product Operating Model Survey Results

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TL; DR: The "Agile to the Product Operating Model" Survey Results

Between August 2 and August 10, 2026, 48 practitioners participated in my Agile to Product Operating Model (POM) survey, which tries to shed light on what is actually changing.

Let me summarize the answers for you: the reported transformations change decision-making less than the Cagan framework suggests. Where respondents report improvements, they appear in delivery and collaboration rather than in business results. Unfortunately, the human side of the transition is the least encouraging part of the answers.

Take all the following information with a grain of salt, given that the sample size is so small. (I recall the good times when 1,000 to 2,000 people would participate in a Scrum master salary report, but those times seem to be over, despite my asking 39,000 people for their contributions via a newsletter.)

Thesis : Product operating model transformations mostly change vocabulary and organizational structure while leaving the decision system, who decides what gets built, on what evidence, at what speed, largely untouched. AI is changing product decisions independently of POM transformations.

🎓 🇬🇧 The A3 Delegation System Founding Workshop — September 28-29, 2026

Your team already delegates work to AI: reports, research, customer feedback analysis, stakeholder communication, or parts of operational workflows.

But can you answer these questions without improvising?

What may AI decide, and what must remain a human decision?

What does "good enough" mean for this particular work?

Who verifies the result before somebody acts on it?

Who checks whether the delegation still works after the model or workflow changes?

If those answers live in one person’s head, or nowhere, your problem is no longer prompting. You have a delegation problem.

The A3 Delegation System gives you a practical way to decide what AI may do, hand over the work clearly, define acceptable results, and inspect the delegation over time.

During two hands-on sessions, you will apply the system to a workflow. You will leave with a clear understanding of how to apply the A3 Delegation System to your workflows so that team members or stakeholders can understand, challenge, and continue your AI delegation work. Everything you learn is directly applicable to your situation the next day. The class is in English .

👉 Join the Workshop Now — $199 : The A3 Delegation System Founding Workshop — September 28-29, 2026

🇩🇪 Zur deutschsprachigen Version des Artikels: Die Ergebnisse der „Agile zum Product Operating Model“ Umfrage: Was sich wirklich ändert.

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Who Answered, and Why I Report Counts, Not Percentages

Of the 48 respondents of the Agile to Product Operating Model, 26 work in organizations that have adopted a product operating model or are moving toward it (we refer to them as the "movers" from here on). The other 22 work in organizations that are not moving; these organizations are still discussing the issue, have decided against it, or have never considered it.

So you get absolute counts, and every finding below is directional, not definitive. Additional limitations are:

24 of the 48 respondents are Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches, the roles under the most...

agile product delegation operating model system

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