--- title: "Project Piloting & Agile Methodologies - Jos茅 DA COSTA" description: "Project piloting, in my own definition, is the discipline that **breaks a strategic intent into a portfolio of deliverables**, each one framed with a backlog, a budget, a risk register, and a stakehol" locale: "en" canonical: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/skills/project-piloting-agile" source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/skills/project-piloting-agile.md" html_source: "https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/skills/project-piloting-agile" author: "Jos茅 DA COSTA" type: "skill" slug: "project-piloting-agile" generated_at: "2026-04-26T21:15:06.999Z" --- # Project Piloting & Agile Methodologies Icon: 馃З ## My definition Project piloting, in my own definition, is the discipline that **breaks a strategic intent into a portfolio of deliverables**, each one framed with a backlog, a budget, a risk register, and a stakeholder map. Combined with agile methodologies (Scrum, SAFe, Lean) it becomes the **operating system** of a multi-team programme, the layer that turns a board OKR into shippable sprints and into milestones defendable on the business side. ### Context I run **2 complementary modes** I alternate by context. **Top-down portfolio governance** (PMO, bi-weekly COPIL, RACI matrices, OKR cascading), what I practised at Pichet on the **903 person-days** ESB programme. **Bottom-up Scrum** for product squads (2-week sprints, daily, sprint review, retrospective) - installed between 2022 and 2024 on the middleware cell. Same foundation in both modes: explicit risks, named stakeholders, measurable milestones. **MBA in Strategic Project Management** (2023-2025), **PSPO** certification, **SAFe 5 PM/PO** badge, and **5 years** as PM/PO at Pichet form the theory + practice cover. ### Relevance In 2026, project piloting has shifted: **Lean Portfolio Management** now embeds AI agents that scan code repositories, market trends, and team sentiment to **flag portfolio risks weeks before a human would**. This is the line LeanWisdom takes in its 2026 SAFe playbook: portfolio strategy becomes the organisation's "fast brain", and OKR cascading wires natively with AI capacity tools - see [Portfolio Strategy in the Age of AI & Agility](https://www.leanwisdom.com/blog/portfolio-strategy-safe/). The PM/PO who cannot pilot this human + agent mix becomes the bottleneck. ## My evidence ### Steering the DAM Bynder rollout for 1,400 users **Context:** 5 previous attempts had failed and burned 360 KEUR. The group needed a Digital Asset Management deployment without restarting from zero. **Action:** I designed a 6-step independent benchmark methodology, ran the vendor selection, negotiated SLA and reversibility clauses, and orchestrated 17 weekly onboarding sessions. **Result:** Bynder shipped on schedule for 1,400 users with full vendor lock-in mitigation in the contract. **Value added:** The benchmark playbook became reusable for future SaaS migrations at the group. ### Akeneo PIM SaaS migration **Context:** 5 years of Akeneo PIM evolution from v1.4 self-hosted to SaaS, with a 2024 cutover that had to be zero-downtime. **Action:** As Tech Lead then PO I built the migration backlog, coordinated agencies + vendor + business, and ran the rsync-based transition pipeline. **Result:** Migration completed without commercial impact on the property listing flows. **Value added:** The transition kept the team's autonomy intact: the SaaS contract was negotiated with a clear knowledge-transfer plan that avoided vendor capture. ## My self-critique ### Mastery level **Senior**, doubly validated: MBA Strategic Project Management on the portfolio side + 5 years in the dual PM/PO hat at Pichet on the execution side, plus the **SAFe 5 PM/PO** and **PSPO** certifications. Practical coverage across three rhythms - top-down portfolio (PMO, COPIL, RACI), bottom-up Scrum on **15+ squads** piloted, multi-team governance (ESB programme of **903 planned person-days**). What still needs strengthening: animating Lean Portfolio Management beyond 8 parallel initiatives, and shifting from operator to **coach posture** once the team reaches piloting maturity. ### Importance in my profile Required for any CTO or EM role. it is the dual of leadership: leadership pilots people, project piloting pilots flow. Without it, board-level commitments do not translate into dated deliverables and tech arbitrations stay invisible delivery-side. It is also what lets me commit to **contractual customer milestones** ([cf. DAM Bynder rollout](/en/achievements/dam-bynder-asset-management-project-manager)) without depending on an external PMO. ### Advice (for myself and others) ### My daily reflex *Name the kill criteria systematically before every kickoff* - the hardest piloting decision is never starting, it is stopping. The risk register lives in a single source, never scattered in slides. To peers stepping up, I sum it up in three principles: prefer a verifiable short cadence to a perfect plan, document the decision the moment the meeting ends, and **pick the framework by context** (Scrum when uncertainty dominates, Kanban when the flow is known, SAFe when cross-team dependencies are heavy), never by habit. ## My evolution in this skill ### Role in my professional project Project piloting is what lets me hold a **portfolio of 5 to 10 concurrent initiatives** in the next CTO role. It turns strategy into a prioritized backlog, guarantees the delivery of board commitments, and authorizes contractual commerce (milestones + SLAs). Without it, strategy stays theoretical and leadership loses its ability to measure team impact. ### Mid-term target level At 18 months, the observable goal is to **pilot 8 to 10 concurrent initiatives** with a stable quarterly cadence, an **on-date delivery rate >= 80%**, and an active risk register actually used by sponsors. The Senior-to-Senior+ shift is less about the operator gesture and more about the **LPM coach posture**: delegate the run, animate the portfolio. ### Current training Annual rereading of the **SAFe Lean Portfolio Management** materials, systematic [Liberating Structures](https://www.liberatingstructures.com/) practice for facilitation. MBA Strategic Project Management active until 2025. Monthly CTO Craft cohort for the cross-organizational angle. ### Future training **SAFe Agilist (SA)** or **Lean Portfolio Manager** certification targeted in 2026, triggered by the target context (regulated industry vs. SaaS scale-up). Product impact measurement training (Reforge Product Strategy or Pendo) planned 2027. ## Progression across journey This skill was developed across 14 different journey items. - **1999** - [CTO 路 Founder 路 technical director](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/celiane-founder.md) (entrepreneurship) - Confidence: 1/5 - **2009** - [Software Engineer 路 PHP Zend Framework Developer](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/european-sourcing-engineer.md) (experience) - Confidence: 4/5 - **2013** - [Senior Software Engineer 路 Lead PHP Symfony Developer](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/medialeads-senior-engineer.md) (experience) - Confidence: 4/5 - **2016** - [Technical Project Manager 路 Co-founder 路 Early-Stage Startup](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/adspower-cofounder.md) (entrepreneurship) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2017** - [Senior Software Engineer 路 Lead PHP Magento Developer](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/smile-senior-engineer.md) (experience) - Confidence: 3/5 - **2019** - [Engineering Manager 路 Project Manager / Product Owner 路 Technical Lead](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/pichet-group.md) (experience) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2020** - [Entrepreneur 路 Various Business Domains](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/auto-entrepreneur-jdc.md) (entrepreneurship) - Confidence: 4/5 - **2021** - [Project Manager / Product Owner 路 Flows and Products: PIM & DAM & ESB](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/pichet-project-manager.md) (experience) - Confidence: 4/5 - **2021** - [PSPO Certification (Professional Scrum Product Owner)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/pspo-scrum.md) (certification) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2022** - [SAFe 5 Certification (Product Manager & Product Owner)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/safe-po-pm.md) (certification) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2023** - [MBA Strategic Project Management](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/mba-strategic-project-management.md) (education) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2023** - [Master Expert in Software Engineering](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/master-software-engineering.md) (education) - Confidence: 5/5 - **2023** - [Engineering Manager 路 Enterprise Application Integration](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/pichet-engineering-manager.md) (experience) - Confidence: 4/5 - **2024** - [CTO 路 Founder 路 technical director](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/journey/accenseo-founder.md) (entrepreneurship) - Confidence: 5/5 ## Related achievements - [DAM Bynder - Project Manager for 1,400 Users](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/dam-bynder-asset-management-project-manager.md) - Sole pilot of group-wide DAM deployment for ~1,400 employees - benchmark, vendor selection, contract negotiation, onboarding, go-live - Coordinated 10+ stakeholders (management, marketing, IT, legal for SLA & reversibility, vendor teams). Hybrid approach with sprint reviews, backlog grooming, and iterative deployment - applied pragmatically before PSPO certification obtained in 2021 - [Partner Lead Reception API Platform (alias PSR)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/plateforme-api-reception-leads-partenaires.md) - Single technical point of contact for dozens of external partners and internal teams, Project Manager / Product Owner of the platform from 2021 to 2023 - [Akeneo PIM Project Management and Product Information Governance](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/pilotage-pim-akeneo-migration-saas.md) - Piloted PIM lifecycle over 5 years: version migration, pipeline automation, SaaS migration, and daily operations as Technical Lead then PO - Coordinated with 10+ stakeholders: DnD/Kariba agencies, Akeneo vendor, marketing teams, business leads, Claranet hosting - [Engineering Manager - Enterprise Integration Platform (alias ESB)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/engineering-manager-integration-entreprise.md) - Daily interactions with ~80 stakeholders across every business department of the group, steering committees, vendor relationships, Multi-project portfolio in parallel: ESB Enterprise Integration, PIM, DAM, PSR, Ligneurs. Created Daily ESB + Sprint Planning / Review / Retrospective for the middleware team (Nov 2022 - Feb 2023), Drove the 2022-2024 ESB roadmap, 903 days of workload planned, flow costing model built from scratch - Identified and mitigated 4 structural risks (infrastructure instability, knowledge concentration, alert fatigue, vendor lock-in) + blameless post-mortems - [ETL Pipeline for Real Estate Listing Syndication (alias Ligneurs)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/pipeline-etl-syndication-immobiliere.md) - Piloted the portal-by-portal migration over 4 years with standardized onboarding process, acceptance checklists and zero downtime, Coordinated business referents, external vendors and partner portals - go/no-go decisions and translation between technical and business constraints - [Trade Show Community Portal Platform](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/portail-communautaire-salons-professionnels.md) - Managed digital project from WordPress setup to 7-year production lifecycle - [EuropeanTool - B2B Promotional Product Platform](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/europeantool-plateforme-b2b.md) - Autonomously managed a 10-year technical project with 250+ suppliers and 50+ resellers - [Food Truck & Mobile Concept Platform - French manufacturer (alias MCR)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/plateforme-food-truck-concepts-mobiles.md) - Delivered the entire platform in 41 days solo - from voice-recording briefs to production, with client follow-up, prioritisation and scope control - [AI Machine Learning SaaS Platform for Ad Optimization (alias AdsPower)](https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/achievements/plateforme-publicitaire-machine-learning.md) - Led 3 major product iterations in under a year as Technical Project Manager Interactive version with navigation: https://portfolio.josedacosta.info/en/skills/project-piloting-agile