Remember when everyone was obsessed with Scrum? When every company had to have certified Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches? When two-week sprints and daily standups were the holy grail of software development?
Well, here's something that might surprise you: the biggest tech companies in the world never really bought into it.
I've been watching this trend for a while now, and the signs are everywhere. Big companies are eliminating roles like Agile Coach and ScrumMaster, and it's not just because of economic pressures. There's something deeper happening here.
The Great Scrum Master Exodus
Let's talk numbers for a second. Over 120,000 tech workers were laid off in the first half of 2023 alone, and guess which roles got hit the hardest? Yep, Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. Every participant in a small Certified Scrum Master class came from a company where they had eliminated the job titles of Scrum Master and Agile Coach.
But here's the kicker — this isn't just about budget cuts. When I dig deeper into what's happening, I see companies that are genuinely questioning whether these roles add value anymore.
The Big Tech Reality Check
Want to know something mind-blowing? When talking to engineers at Facebook, Whatsapp, Google, Netflix and similar organizations, most of them have never used Scrum.
Think about that for a moment. The most successful tech companies on the planet — the ones setting the standards for how software should be built — they're not doing Scrum. They're not doing daily standups. They're not estimating story points.
So what are they doing instead?
What Tech Giants Actually Use
After digging through industry reports and talking to people who've worked at these companies, here's what I found:
1. The "No Formal Methodology" Approach
"No formal methodology" is common for public and venture-funded tech companies. Sounds chaotic, right? But it's actually quite elegant.
Instead of rigid frameworks, these companies focus on:
- Hiring exceptional people and trusting them to figure it out
- Clear objectives instead of detailed processes
- Shipping fast without ceremony
A former Facebook PM summed it up perfectly: "In >1 year as a PM @ Facebook I've created zero tickets/tasks. We don't do sprints either. PMs here focus on vision, strategy & partnerships. Less on project management & tasks. Engineers carry most of the project management responsibility & create their own tasks."
2. OKRs Over Sprints
In organizations with empowered teams, objectives and key results (OKRs), key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals are far better tools for aligning teams, than rolling out a rigid methodology like Scrum.
Instead of asking "What can we deliver in this sprint?", they ask "What outcome are we trying to achieve this quarter?"
3. Plan, Build, Ship
"Plan, build, ship" is common for public and venture-funded tech companies. It's refreshingly simple:
- Figure out what needs to be built
- Build it
- Ship it
- Repeat
No ceremony, no complex rituals, just focus on delivery.
4. Shape Up Methodology
Shape Up is mentioned for a few venture-funded companies. Created by Basecamp, it focuses on 6-week cycles with dedicated cool-down periods. It's like Scrum's cooler, more flexible cousin.
Why Big Tech Never Needed Scrum
Here's the thing that really clicked for me: Competent, autonomous people need less structure to produce reliable, high-quality output. Big Tech is able to attract, afford and hire these people.
The main reason these companies didn't need Agile is because the main problem Agile aimed to solve — bridging the divide between tech and non-tech employees — does not exist at these companies.
Think about it. Google was started by engineers. Facebook was built by a programmer. These companies are inherently technical. They don't need frameworks to help engineers and business people communicate — because the business people ARE engineers.
But Wait, Isn't Agile Still Popular?
Here's where it gets interesting. 71% of respondents to the 17th Annual State of Agile Report's survey stated that they use Agile in their software development cycle. So Agile isn't exactly dead, right?
Well, yes and no. Organizations are increasingly opting for tailored approaches rather than standardized frameworks like SAFe. Medium-sized and larger companies are less satisfied with what agile can do for them, and are more likely to pick a software development strategy that uses a number of different frameworks.
The Real Problem With Scrum
I've seen this firsthand. Scrum works great when you have:
- "Kitchen sink teams" which have everything thrown at them
- Teams that need protection from stakeholder interruptions
- Organizations where business people don't understand engineering
But when you have smart, autonomous teams who understand the business context? Scrum often becomes overhead that slows things down.
We were empowered enough to chip away parts of Scrum that got in our way. After a while, what was left did not represent Scrum at all — this is exactly what I've seen happen in mature teams.
The Economics of Agile Roles
Let's be honest about something. In the cost of living crisis and unstable economic environment, only some people are ready to pay a full-time, almost engineering, salary to an Agile professional.
When companies look at their balance sheet and see someone whose job is to "facilitate meetings" and "remove impediments," it's an easy target during budget cuts. Especially when the teams are mature enough to coach themselves without external help.
What This Means for the Industry
Here's my take on where things are heading:
The Good News: Agile principles aren't dying. The focus on customer feedback, iterative development, and team collaboration — those ideas are here to stay.
The Reality Check: The ceremony around Agile is fading. Companies are keeping what works and ditching what doesn't.
The Evolution: We're moving from "doing Agile" to "being agile." It's less about following a framework and more about building cultures of autonomy, experimentation, and rapid feedback.
The Tools Tell the Story
Want more evidence? JIRA has been mentioned mostly with negative associations: all 13 mentions of JIRA were in this setting. Being able to get things done without working much with JIRA was mentioned as a positive.
A tech company measured their engineers' satisfaction with JIRA and got a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of -83. This is staggeringly low, and means that 83% of engineers would advise against JIRA.
When your primary tool for "being Agile" is universally hated by the people using it, maybe it's time to reconsider the approach.
What Should You Do?
If you're a Scrum Master or Agile Coach reading this, don't panic. But do start evolving. It is not enough anymore to know the Scrum Guide by heart to become a Master and then survive two years in a role to become an Agile Coach.
The future belongs to people who can:
- Facilitate collaboration without rigid frameworks
- Help teams align on objectives rather than manage sprints
- Remove systemic impediments rather than just daily blockers
- Build culture rather than follow processes
If you're leading a team, consider this: maybe your team is ready for more autonomy. Maybe those daily standups could become weekly syncs. Maybe you could replace story points with just talking about what feels achievable.
The Bottom Line
Agile isn't dead, but the industrial complex around it is dying. The future isn't about following frameworks — it's about building teams that can adapt, learn, and deliver value without needing someone to tell them how.
If you want an agile culture with high autonomy and innovation, you need to hire for it. Great leaders hire great talent, great talent enables great culture. Focus on leaders, talent and culture.
The tech giants figured this out years ago. Maybe it's time the rest of us caught up.
Have you noticed this shift in your own company? Are you seeing fewer Scrum ceremonies and more focus on outcomes? I'd love to hear how your team is evolving beyond traditional Agile frameworks.