{"id":51321,"date":"2025-10-28T15:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/?p=51321"},"modified":"2025-11-05T07:25:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T07:25:55","slug":"digital-ais-18th-state-of-agile-report-marks-the-start-of-the-fourth-wave-of-software-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/2025\/10\/28\/digital-ais-18th-state-of-agile-report-marks-the-start-of-the-fourth-wave-of-software-delivery\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital.ai\u2019s 18th State of Agile Report marks the start of the Fourth Wave of software delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Digital.ai\u2019s latest State of Agile Report shows how AI is transforming Agile from a team practice into an enterprise-wide advantage.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now twenty-five years after the Agile Manifesto reshaped how software is built, the 2025 State of Agile Report from Digital.ai captures another major turning point: the rise of AI as a catalyst for the Fourth Wave of software delivery, where AI is moving from a supportive tool to an orchestrator of the full delivery lifecycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past three years AI has moved from research labs into every corner of the enterprise, transforming how organizations plan, build, test, secure and release software. Digital.ai defines this transformation as the Fourth Wave of Software Development and Delivery \u2013 an era where intelligent, agentic systems are becoming active participants in the software lifecycle. Rather than simply assisting teams, these systems can reason, decide and act autonomously to improve flow, quality and speed at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2025 findings reveal that AI is refocusing organizations on Agile\u2019s original intent: enabling rapid adaptation to change and delivering innovation that matters most to the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key findings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 ROI pressure is rising: 76% cite increased scrutiny on the business impact and ROI of Agile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 AI adoption has surged: from 68% to 84%, with early adopters experimenting with agentic systems that act autonomously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Governance lags behind adoption: only 49% have guardrails in place as AI adoption accelerates faster than oversight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Keys to success: 73% of respondents want stronger leadership support and clearer alignment between delivery work and business goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agile at a defining moment The 2025 State of Agile findings reflect a decisive shift: AI is now central to how software is envisioned and delivered. This evolution is driving enterprises to connect technology investments with measurable business outcomes and to adopt governance models that make data and decision flow transparent across the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrue Agility has always required a holistic people, process and technology approach,\u201d said Derek Holt, CEO, Digital.ai. \u201cThe rise of AI and Agents both within the Agile Planning space and across the software delivery lifecycle marks a new chapter in how we plan, build, test, deliver and monitor software. This year\u2019s report arrives at an extremely dynamic time, offering unique insights into how Agile is quickly evolving in this Fourth Wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrganizations that build these foundations first will be best positioned to transform AI from a productivity tool into a strategic driver of business performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure is on The 2025 findings reveal mounting pressure on organizations to demonstrate the ROI of Agile. While 76% of respondents say this pressure is reshaping investments and role assignments, only half feel they can deliver reliably and with accountability. Teams are being asked to do more with less (79%), accelerate innovation (77%) and respond swiftly to leadership and structural changes (78%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, nearly one-third of organizations are working to connect Agile practices directly to measurable business outcomes \u2014 highlighting a critical gap between expectations and execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agile is adapting Agile continues to evolve to meet modern demands. Four key trends stand out: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Investment holds steady: 41% increased Agile spending over the past two years, signalling continued confidence in Agile\u2019s value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Flexibility is rising: 74% now use hybrid, blended or homegrown Agile models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Roles are expanding: 29% of respondents are now accountable for connecting Agile work to business outcomes, and 26% are influencing product and portfolio planning \u2014 a shift from activity metrics to strategic impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Focus is shifting to outcomes: customer satisfaction (52%) remains the primary measure of success, followed by efficiency and cost reduction (40%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surprise this year isn\u2019t that AI is spreading, but how far some organizations have already taken it. More than one-quarter of AI users are experimenting with Agentic AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early adopters are applying these capabilities to workflow execution, risk detection, governance and even planning. Agentic AI represents a shift from assistance to autonomy: agents that act, learn and adapt within the guardrails teams define. Much like the first Agile pioneers two decades ago, these organizations are testing boundaries and shaping the next wave of innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity ahead: The era of Agentic Agile AI adoption has surged from 68% to 84%, with 41% now implementing tools in a coordinated way across teams. Yet only 49% have governance guardrails in place, creating risk as automation advances faster than oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in enterprise workflows, Agile itself is evolving into what Digital.ai calls Agentic Agile Planning \u2013 a model where human teams and AI agents collaborate to anticipate risks, improve decision-making and continuously adapt across planning, coding, testing and delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAI without reliable data is just acceleration without direction,\u201d said Holt. \u201cWhen organizations invest in measurement, governance and leadership alignment, AI becomes a force multiplier for Agile \u2013 making work more visible, decisions smarter and business value more tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find the full report at Digital.ai<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital.ai\u2019s latest State of Agile Report shows how AI is transforming Agile from a team practice into an enterprise-wide advantage. Now twenty-five years after the Agile Manifesto reshaped how software is built, the 2025 State of Agile Report from Digital.ai captures another major turning point: the rise of AI as a catalyst for the Fourth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":51322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1034,39,43],"tags":[7913,10047,10048,226,376,221,5498,2936,10046],"class_list":["post-51321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-software","category-top-stories","tag-agentic-ai","tag-agile","tag-agile-planning","tag-ai","tag-automation","tag-digital-transformation","tag-enterprise-software","tag-governance","tag-software-delivery"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51321"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51387,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51321\/revisions\/51387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/north-america\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}