KAA 2025 - Marc Story and Eric Cussen - Why Product Should Be Your Biggest Champion of Agility

We’ll share a real-world story illustrating why Product Managers should take the lead in driving Agile practices, shifting the focus from just technology teams to product delivery as a whole. Through this narrative, we will discuss the realized risks of a low-collaboration, long-delivery project and we’ll make a compelling case for why incremental delivery and fast, actionable insights are critical—and why it’s time for Product Managers to insist on the results that only Agile can deliver. By the end of the talk, you’ll understand why Product, not just Tech, should own the push for agility in today’s fast-paced development landscape, and how different things can be if the product organization is the driver behind adopting and mastering Agile capabilities. Speakers: Marc Story is a passionate, forward-thinking executive and evangelist of finding better ways to work with a track record of delivering innovative solutions for crucial business problems at all levels of an organization. Marc’s focus is on maximizing customer, enterprise, and shareholder value through disciplined Product Management, software delivery, culture change, and integration of Lean/Agile principles and practices. His experience in leading Product Management, Project Management, and engineering organizations provides a unique, holistic perspective in leading change. Eric Cussen has over 20 years of product development and Agile transformation experience. In that time, Eric has led transformations that range from small startups to large-scale, complex enterprises in the financial services, aviation, healthcare, and insurance industries. Eric’s background in product development runs deep. He was the designer of an innovative financial product featured in the Wall Street Journal. Eric was the co-founder and CEO of multiple startups and brings his entrepreneurial mindset and passion for creating value to all his clients.