Business. Enterprise. Agility. Lead It.

By: Laura Powers

The Agile 2025 Conference in Denver brought together a spirited mix of agilists, leaders, and change-makers from across industries. The headline announcement was that the Agile Alliance will work with the community to create a Manifesto for Enterprise Agility,  to be released on the 25th anniversary of the original Agile Manifesto in 2026.  

The announcement landed with a full spectrum of reactions — from enthusiastic applause to quiet curiosity to thoughtful concern about what this means for the future of agility. With this initiative coming 25 years after the original Manifesto, there’s an opportunity to build on its foundation — not replace it — and to use today’s technology to include more voices, more perspectives, and more lived experience than ever before.

Just before this announcement, I joined Heidi Musser,  Jurgen Appelo, and Lenka Pincot on stage to wrestle with a deceptively simple question: 

What is Enterprise Agility?

At the Business Agility Institute (not surprisingly), we call it business agility. Others prefer enterprise agility or organizational agility. The label doesn’t matter. It’s all cut from the same cloth. The problem is that everyone thinks they know what it means, yet they rarely agree. 

These words carry baggage. Scars from failed transformations. Stale PowerPoint definitions. Competing interpretations.

Here’s what enterprise (or business) agility is not:

• It’s not something you “install” with a start date, a change team, and a pizza party at the end.
• It’s not delegating agility to a transformation office while executives carry on as before.
• It’s not just high-performing delivery teams while the executive team stays stuck in departmental silos.

Getting aligned isn’t just a box to check — it’s the first act of leadership. And at the Business Agility Institute, we believe that leadership alignment is the linchpin of any real transformation. Without it, agility collapses under the weight of misinterpretation and inconsistency.

But Even with Alignment, We Can’t Afford to Think Small

ecosystem agility /ee-ko sis-tem  ah-jil-it-ee/ noun

Definition: Organizations of all types and sizes working across boundaries, aligned in purpose, and creating value for a shared customer.

Etymology: From ecosystem (Greek oikos "house" + systema "organized whole") + agility (Latin agilis "nimble, quick")         

The most pressing challenges we face today (climate change, healthcare, economic instability, fractured supply chains) don’t recognize org charts or quarterly goals. They demand something bigger. We call it ecosystem agility. 

That’s the kind of agility BAI exists to enable. Not just team-level tactics or departmental improvements but a full-scale shift in how organizations lead, operate, and collaborate at every level. And here’s the truth: agility at this scale isn’t something you roll out. It’s something you choose. 

It requires executive fingerprints on the work, not just sponsorship from the sidelines. It requires leaders to be upskilled with the same urgency as frontline teams. And it requires systems — policies, governance, and processes — designed to support the shift in behavior, not quietly sabotage it. The time for that kind of leadership is now. And AI is turning up that urgency.

“Only When the Tide Goes Out Do You Discover Who’s Been Swimming Naked.” ~ Warren Buffett

AI is the tide going out. It’s about to expose every calcified process, every outdated management model, every assumption that no longer holds true. For those ready to shift, it will catapult them to new levels of success. For those who aren’t, the tide will be merciless and unforgiving.

Which brings me back to the new Manifesto. The announcement left me curious to see what will emerge from the initiative. But let’s be clear — another statement of principles won’t change the world unless leaders act on it, and that time to act is now.

So here’s my challenge to you:

• Shift how you lead. Become the kind of leader who’s curious, connected, and willing to let go of control to build capability.
• Redesign your systems. Align your operating model so it reinforces the behaviors you want to see, instead of defending the status quo.
• Build beyond your walls. Stop optimizing only inside your organization. Form alliances, partnerships, and networks that can deliver value faster and at a greater scale than you ever could alone.

Call it what you want. The work is the same. Shift how we lead. Build systems that reinforce the right behaviors. Create value at the speed of change. Enterprise agility isn’t a buzzword. It’s a choice. And the future is watching.

Laura Powers is the CEO of the Business Agility Institute. She’s allergic to buzzwords without backbone and thinks “agility” should come with a warning label: Do not apply without leadership.

The BAI Newsletter is a unique blend of timely information, thoughtful anecdotes, and insightful findings, delivered every two weeks. It is produced solely with you in mind and sent directly to your inbox. Click here to subscribe, it's free!