11/10 - Is It Just Me, or Have We Seen This Transformation Before?

About this event

Bob Schatz will join the DC Lean + Agile Meetup on Tuesday, November 10th at 12pm ET. Topic: Is It Just Me, or Have We Seen This Transformation Before? What the Internet, Mobile, Cloud, Agile Transformations, and AI Can Teach Us About Organizational Change Description AI transformation may feel unprecedented, but organizations have been here before. The internet, mobile technology, cloud computing, and agile each arrived with bold promises, legitimate fears, uneven experimentation, and pressure to change how work gets done. While the technologies and methodologies differed, the organizational patterns were remarkably familiar. In this interactive session, we’ll use those earlier transformations as a pattern library for navigating AI today. We’ll explore why organizations often mistake adoption for transformation, why new terminology and tools rarely change underlying systems of work, and what employee resistance can reveal about trust, incentives, decision-making, and previous change efforts. By examining what worked, what failed, and what organizations repeatedly overlooked, we can approach AI transformation with better questions and fewer illusions. Participants will leave with practical patterns for distinguishing superficial adoption from meaningful change—and for building an AI transformation grounded in clarity, agency, trust, and observable action. About Our Speaker: Dr. Bob Schatz is the founder of Agile Infusion LLC and a senior advisor, educator, and speaker with 43 years of experience helping organizations improve product development, project delivery, agile transformation, and AI adoption. Since founding Agile Infusion in 2006, Bob has worked with hundreds of organizations and taught approximately 30,000 students in Scrum, Kanban, agile product delivery, and AI-enabled project management and AI workforce enablement. Bob’s work focuses on helping business and technology leaders turn changing conditions into better outcomes, preferably with fewer status meetings and better decisions. Through Agile Infusion, Bob has advised and educated teams across enterprise technology, financial services, government, media, healthcare, and regulated industries. He is known for connecting agile principles, product thinking, leadership development, and practical AI strategy in ways that help organizations move from activity to outcomes. Bob is deeply involved with the Project Management Institute as a PMIxAI Ambassador, and his work as Pathway Chair for Digital Innovation and Strategic Leadership with The Snyder Center for Project Excellence. His credentials include Certified Agile Project Management (PMI-ACP); Certified Professional in Managing AI (PMI-CPMAI); Certified AI Management Professional, AIMP; Google Cloud Certified GenAI Leader; AI in Mortgage Professional; Certified Scrum Trainer, CST; Certified Scrum/Kanban Trainer, CKST; Certified OKR Foundations; Lean Management Certification; Bob holds a Doctor of Management in Strategic Leadership from Thomas Jefferson University, a Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Sciences from Temple University.