Agile Austin's Ask An Expert

Date: 8/13/2009
Time: 6 pm
Location: Chicago room, Mangia’s Pizza, 8012 Mesa Drive
More info: http://AskAnExpert.AgileAustin.org

Israel Gat will host the August 13 session of the Agile Austin Ask an Expert service. Here is his bio:

Israel Gat is recognized as the architect of the Agile transformation at BMC Software. Under his leadership, BMC software development increased Scrum users from zero to 1,000 in four years. His executive career has spanned top technology companies, including IBM, Microsoft, Digital and EMC. He led the development of products such as BMC Performance Manager and Microsoft Operations Manager, enabling the two companies to move on to the next generation of system management technology. Israel is also well versed in growing smaller companies and has held advisory and venture capital positions for companies in new, high-growth markets.

In his current position as Senior Consultant with the Cutter Consortium, Israel focuses on enterprise level Agile/Lean deployments. His activities in this space include consulting on R&D transformation, coaching executives on how to implement Agile, training teams as well as individuals in Agile methods and developing business designs that take full advantage of these methods.

Israel has a Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the Israeli Institute of Technology and an MBA from Clark University. In addition to publishing with the Cutter Consortium, he posts frequently in The Agile Executive. Israel can be reached at consulting@cutter.com.

The objective of the Ask an Expert program is to provide free consultation by experienced Agile Austin coaches to any Austinite that wrestles with issues related to promoting, planning and executing Agile methods. The program will address the needs of practitioners in companies that produce software, embed software, or use software as an integral part of their business processes. In addition to 1-1 consultation, coaches will gladly hold discussions with entire teams.

Ask an Expert sessions should be primarily regarded as a step toward addressing concrete Agile issues that manifest themselves in a specific environment. Coaches might not be able to complete a comprehensive analysis, but will make certain to suggest what the heart of the problem might be and point out Agile resources that practitioners could use on their own.

To ensure available access to experts, consultative session time will be divided between attendees. Team discussions with any Agilists attending the program will be encouraged to maximize the sharing of experience and draw out the wisdom of crowds. One-on-one sessions are available on request, but will be time-limited based on attendance (15 minutes typical).

The program will strive to balance utility with fun. Utility will primarily be delivered through actionable insights; fun will be had through passionate exploration of Agile topics in a friendly and collaborative manner.