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Give Thanks for Scrum: 2025
Join us on Tuesday November 25, 2025 In-Person at Microsoft in Burlington, MA for Agile Boston’s 17th Annual Give Thanks For Scrum event.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKET!
Scrum has had a world-changing history that includes impacting the work of tens of millions of people. YET SUDDENLY, Scrum and the entire agile industry is navigating an uncertain transition. “Legacy agile” is over! WHAT’S NEXT? We think we have a pretty good idea! And it is expressed in our theme:
SCRUM RENEWED: What Scrum was always meant to be
With our theme in focus, here is what we are planning for the 2025 event:
GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM 2025: The Morning Activities
For the morning, we are working to have Rita McGrath of Columbia University present a short keynote on the future of work. Rita has written several books, and her many articles have been published in Harvard Business Review. She is a thought leader who brings a unique perspective, one that will set the stage for our entire event.
We will then do a quick icebreaker with the whole group. And after that. we will break into smaller groups to explore 3 of the biggest trends in the world of Scrum:
1. A NEW FOCUS ON TANGIBLE RESULTS– ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE
2. INCORPORATING A.I. INTO SCRUM PRACTICE IN PRACTICAL TERMS
3. THE NECESSARY EVOLUTION OF THE SCRUM MASTER ROLE
Get your tickets now and hear keynotes on these important industry trends from:
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DR. JEFF SUTHERLAND: co-creator of Scrum and the founder of SCRUM INC
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DAVID WEST: Chief Executive Officer of SCRUM.ORG
You may not know that Scrum was born in Boston and thus it is very appropriate that our local community tackle what the future of Scrum is, with the co-creator of Scrum Dr. Jeff Sutherland and the CEO of Scrum.org, a company founded by co-creator of Scrum Ken Schwaber, Dave West.
This event will kick off with a morning of interactions in small groups, inspired by the WORLD CAFE format, where everyone will address 4 key issues the face Scrum in 2026. Work side by side with Dr. Jeff Sutherland, Dave West, and many other notable special guests… to be announced shortly!
Then lunch, where as always you will be well fed, get a chance to check out the latest offerings from Scrum Inc and Scrum.org., and enjoy socializing and music.
After lunch,we will hold our traditional raffle where you will have plenty of chances to win great prizes including copies of some of the latest books on Scrum and Agile, plus free access and deep discounts to upcoming training classes.
After the raffle, we will get back to business with keynotes from Jeff and Dave, inspired by the morning discussions and insights.
After a short break, we will cap the event our traditional Q&A session featuring Jeff & Dave, so bring your toughest questions!
WHAT YOU RECEIVE:
In addition to what we promise is a GREAT event, every participant ALSO receives the following:
- All participants receive an INVITATION to become lifetime members of the Open Leadership Network. The OLN is a community dedicated to increasing employee engagement in org-level change, through the use of Open patterns and practices. OLN membership includes many bonuses and benefits. You can learn more here….
- All participants receive THE SLIDES and video from all Speaker sessions
DETAILED AGENDA FOR THE 2025 EVENT:
17th Annual Give Thanks For Scrum Event
When: November 25, 2025, 9:00am – 4:30pm (doors open at 8:30AM)
Where: 5 Wayside Rd, Burlington, MA 01803
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
This is our 17th annual GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM event during the Thanksgiving week in the Boston area, where Scrum was born!
We are promising a great event this year with Professor Rita McGrath, Dave West (CEO of Scrum.Org) and the one and only Dr. Jeff Sutherland. You are invited!!
We are less than THREE WEEKS AWAY, so consider getting your ticket today ! You’ll find the detailed schedule and the session details for Jeff Sutherland and Dave West in this email.
Doors will open at 830AM and we will get underway at 09:00AM !
Our theme for the 2025 event:
SCRUM RENEWED:
What Scrum was always meant to be
Scrum has had a world-changing history that includes impacting the work of tens of millions of people. YET SUDDENLY, Scrum and the entire agile industry is navigating an uncertain transition. “Legacy agile” is over! WHAT’S NEXT? We think we have a pretty good idea! And it is expressed in our theme…
With our theme in focus, here is what we are planning for the 2025 event:
Here’s the detailed schedule!! Doors open at 830AM and we get underway at 09:00AM !
| START | MINS | ACTIVITY | |
| 9:00 AM | 15 | Welcome | |
| 9:15 AM | 25 | RITA MCGRATH opening keynote | |
| 9:40 AM | 15 | Event details: Theme, sub-themes, schedule, breaks etc | |
| 9:55 AM | 5 | Time to find your room and get situated with your group | |
| 10:00 AM | 20 | TIMESLOT 01 on the 3 big topics: AI, Results and the evolution of the Scrum Master role | |
| 10:20 AM | 5 | Time to find your room and get situated with your group | |
| 10:25 AM | 20 | TIMESLOT 02 on the 3 big topics: AI, Results and the evolution of the Scrum Master role | |
| 10:45 AM | 5 | Time to find your room and get situated with your group | |
| 10:50 AM | 20 | TIMESLOT 03 on the 3 big topics: AI, Results and the evolution of the Scrum Master role | |
| 11:10 AM | 5 | Time to transition to the main hall and get situated | |
| 11:15 AM | 32 | “THE DEBATE” event in the Main Hall (with the whole group) | |
| 11:47 AM | 8 | THE DEBATE Wrap up and transition to Lunch | |
| 11:55 AM | 60 | LUNCH | |
| 12:55 PM | 15 | RAFFLE | |
| 1:10 PM | 60 | Dave West, CEO, Scrum.Org | |
| 2:10 PM | 10 | BREAK | |
| 2:20 PM | 60 | Jeff Sutherland, Scrum co-creator (SCRUM INC) | |
| 3:20 PM | 5 | TRANSITION/BREAK | |
| 3:25 PM | 60 | PANEL: Jeff, Dave and JOE DEANGELIS | |
| 4:25 PM | DONE |
This year’s GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM promises to be a great day of learning, socializing and FUN. Participation is limited. So please DO make your plans to join us today!
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKET NOW !!
PRESENTERS
Dr. Rita McGrath
Rita is a Professor at Columbia University, an author of many books on management & leadership and a well-known keynote speaker.
Rita’s session:
THE PERMISSIONLESS ORGANIZATION
The advent of Scrum and later the Agile Manifesto brought process breakthroughs for most organizations. Improvement! But over time, the patterns that were supposed to free people and unleash creativity often became heavy in their implementation: overloaded with jargon, with dogmatic rules, and formulaic roles.
As we consider the future of work, it is useful to recognize that we are at a key turning point. The “products” of today tend to be digital, with shorter and shorter product lifespans. The products of today is very different from the products of the industrial era. The product of today is built on a digital foundation, allowing for personalization and customized offerings.
This has big implications for how work gets done and how we organize work. In this conversation, we’ll examine how highly aligned yet loosely coupled structures are the future. I will introduce two supporting elements: the idea of the “Permissionless Organization,” and a clear set of Permissionless organizing principles.
Our conversation will offer some perspective on what all of this suggests for the future of work, the future of Scrum, and the future of value delivery worldwide!
Dr. Jeff Sutherland, Scrum Co-Creator
Jeff’s Session:
THE NEXT THIRTY YEARS
For 30 years, the Scrum community has successfully guided the world through Digital Transformation. This presentation honors that journey and issues a call to action for the next 30: mastering Human-AI Symbiosis.
We stand on the precipice of the Technological Singularity (c. 2045), an event Ray Kurzweil forecasts will see superintelligent AI automate 85%+ of knowledge work and rewrite the very rules of science. This acceleration creates existential challenges, including a societal “purpose void” in a post-scarcity world and a critical economic gap known as the “Abundance-Scarcity Delta.”
This talk argues that Scrum’s role must evolve from managing work to becoming the indispensable framework for cognitive orchestration—the ethical guidance of superintelligence. We explore how the Scrum Expansion Pack provides the necessary patterns to make this pivot, using Scrum’s core empiricism to validate AI’s outputs and its focus on emergence to navigate post-Singularity complexity.
This session provides a 5-year roadmap and a charge for veteran Scrum practitioners: to evolve from masters of process to become the “Guardians of Human Ingenuity” for the next 30 years. It includes practical guidance from the first Scrum AI product development team during the past 3 years.
Dave West , CEO of Scrum.Org
Dave’s Session:
SCRUM’S HORIZON- WHERE AGILITY MEETS THE INFINITE GAME
2025 can be described in one word. Uncertainty. The reality of 2025 is that change is not managed in quarters, months, or days, but in terms of hours. How many times have you checked your cell phone to see what is happening now?
The ability to effectively deliver value in the face of uncertainty is why Scrum was created. The idea of balancing focused stability with spaces for radical change through transparency inspired the creation of Scrum. But the backdrop of uncertainty has undermined Scrum adoption as organizations pause investment. This has led to headlines such as Agile is dead. But future-looking organizations continue to invest in adopting Scrum and are looking to scale their agile practices.
In this talk, Dave West, CEO of Scrum.org, discusses the future of Scrum, describing how it is applied amid market uncertainty and the rise of AI. He will discuss the future of teams and operating models, and what Scrum practitioners need to do to remain valuable and employable in this chaotic world!
PANELISTS JOINING JEFF & DAVE FOR THE AFTERNOON Q&A: 
Daniel Mezick, Executive Coach, author and Founder of AGILE BOSTON
Joe DeAngelis, Managing Director of Agile Boston and Product Manager, MICROSOFT
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKET!
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