`Where speed, adaptability and customer centricity define competitiveness, business agility is a strategic requirement for operational leaders. Luigi D’Amico, COO at e4, a leading partner in digital transformation, says agility is not a function of IT. Instead, it’s a company-wide mindset shift that enables smarter prioritisation, faster execution and better business outcomes.
“Business agility is about structure, culture, and prioritisation. It’s not about quick wins or trendy frameworks. Traditional corporate structures often slow down decision-making by separating teams based on function rather than outcomes. An Agile mindset is a rethinking of how work is structured to align all efforts with measurable business value. It’s about responding faster, making better decisions, and delivering greater value,” notes D’Amico.
Recognising the limits of traditional operating models, Agile is a process of redefining how a business plans, prioritises and delivers value across teams. “Business agility is about ensuring that operations, finance, IT, HR, and leadership can respond quickly without losing focus on long-term goals. Agility means placing fewer, bigger bets and aligning the entire organisation around delivering them,” he adds.
Globally, 91% of organisations say adopting Agile is a strategic priority. The challenge, of course, is practical implementation. For companies that do, the rewards can be substantial, including increased operational efficiency and faster decision-making. Studies also show Agile businesses tend to outperform competitors in both revenue growth and innovation cycles.
From silos to value streams
One of the most significant shifts of Agile comes through Value Stream Mapping as a way of realigning teams based on business outcomes rather than traditional functional departments. Instead of isolated groups working on tasks independently, cross-functional teams are formed to own business challenges at an end-to-end level, from client onboarding to product innovation.
“It’s a shift that recaptures what often gets lost as companies grow. When you’re small, everyone is focused on the customer. As organisations scale, that obsession often gets buried under layers of process, siloed teams, and internal KPIs. Agility is about bringing that focus back and aligning the business around delivering real value to customers,” explains D’Amico.
A culture of empowerment over control
Underpinning any Agile transformation is a shift in culture away from traditional command-and-control leadership towards empowered, accountable teams.
“Plans should be seen as a compass rather than a whip. My job as COO isn’t to approve everything, it’s to create the conditions where teams can make smart, fast decisions through structured autonomy,” says D’Amico.
Prioritisation and decision-making at speed
He says one of the greatest risks to execution is trying to do everything at once. It’s easy for organisations to get bogged down in competing priorities, which slows down decision-making and diffuses strategic focus. Embracing agility often means making tough, intentional choices about what to focus on and what to say no to. “You can have the best plan in the world, but if your teams can’t adjust when the business needs change, it’s useless,” says D’Amico. “Agile is about structured flexibility and knowing when to stick to a plan and when to pivot.”
Lessons in agility from the front lines
Having implemented Agile transformation strategies across three continents, Business Agile’s Enterprise Agility Coach Greg Banach shares five common challenges that often hold organisations back:
- Leadership buy-in – “If Agile is something that’s done to teams without executive commitment, it won’t stick.”
- Organise around value – “Well-formed cross-functional teams unlock faster, more sustainable delivery.”
- Clarity beats complexity – “Companies that align on prioritisation early see faster results.”
- Measure what matters – “Don’t try to measure everything. Focus on predictability and cultural maturity.”
- Don’t over-engineer it – “Agility isn’t about processes, it’s about results. Use just enough structure to keep things moving.”
The road ahead
As businesses continue to embed agility into their operations, the next frontier for operational leaders is already emerging with AI revolutionising every facet of business – and the COO stands at the frontier of this transformation. Traditional operational models are no longer sufficient. The modern COO must adopt a new playbook – one that intertwines the precision of AI with the principles of business agility. “This shift demands a bold reimagination of workflows, where AI is not merely a tool for efficiency but a core architect of dynamic strategies, innovation and acceleration,” says D’Amico.
Rather than simply managing change, the COO of today must thrive in it. That means fostering an agile culture that embraces innovation, encourages teams to experiment, and leverages AI to unlock exponential delivery and new opportunities. “As business agility continues to evolve, the COO must become the nexus of strategy and execution, driving not only operational excellence but also organisational resilience. This is not a peripheral shift – it’s a fundamental redefinition of leadership,” D’Amico adds.
To build for scale, adaptability and growth, COOs must act now, placing AI at the heart of agility and innovation. “The COO of tomorrow starts building today,” D’Amico concludes, “with AI as the cornerstone.”`