The Global Agile Summit kicks off on May 4th, and the People track is one of the most loaded lineups this year. In this episode, track co-hosts Pete Oliver-Krueger and Alina Thapliyal share the story behind the track, the sessions they’re most excited about, and why — in a world increasingly focused on technology and AI — the people dimension is more critical than ever.
The Story Behind the People Track
“Every transformation still comes down to how people feel, how they communicate, how they work with each other, how decisions are made, and how leaders can create a space and conditions for them to thrive.”
The People track isn’t new to the Global Agile Summit — it’s been part of the event for several years, sometimes combined with the Product track. But this year, the volume and quality of submissions made it clear that the topic deserves its own dedicated space. Alina frames it in terms of the VUCA world we operate in: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity make the people dimension more important, not less. Pete picks up the thread with a sharper edge — as AI and technology increasingly dominate the conversation, it’s easy to lose sight of the people creating, designing, using, and selling the products. That tension is exactly why he wrote Shift: From Product to People with his co-author Michael. The book exists to pull practitioners out of product-as-a-thing thinking and into product-as-people thinking.
Product as a Thing vs. Product as People
“When we lose sight of the people around the product is when things start to suffer.”
When Pete reviewed the track submissions, he noticed a telling pattern — a divergence that confirmed the track’s reason for existing. Many submissions talked about product as an artifact, focused on deliverables and outcomes, with no connection to the humans involved. Then there was a second group that immediately saw themselves in the People track. Pete explains the dynamic: we all start by caring about people and solving problems, but at some point we pick a solution and the work of getting it done becomes all-consuming. The task becomes the goal and the people become objects. Unless we consciously leave space to think about relationships and human dynamics, we drift into laser focus on things. The sessions in this track are designed to be the antidote.
Marcus Bullock’s Keynote — A People-First Success Story
“It’s so inspiring to just listen to it and think that I can also do it. We can give people a second chance. We can focus on what’s good and increase the good, rather than focus on what’s bad.”
Both Alina and Pete highlighted Marcus Bullock’s keynote as a must-watch. Marcus, CEO of Flikshop, started from a deeply difficult place and built his way to leading a business and empowering others. What makes his story stand out isn’t the arc from adversity to success — it’s the honesty. Pete, who has known Marcus for over 15 years, points out that Marcus’s story includes genuine ups and downs, and his people-first approach is what helped him weather all of them. Alina was struck by the energy Marcus brings and his focus on amplifying what’s good in people rather than minimizing what’s bad. It’s a message that resonates whether you lead a team of five or an organization of five thousand.
Usability Theater — The Courage to Shut Up and Listen
“Take a product, give it to a customer, and don’t say anything. Just let the customer try it, let the customer experience the product. We need to have the courage to shut up.”
Alina’s second highlight was the session on usability theater, where the core idea is deceptively simple: put your product in front of a customer and resist the urge to explain anything. No “look what we did here,” no guided tour. Just observe how people actually interact with what you’ve built. It takes real courage, Alina says, because our instinct is to showcase and defend our work. But the insights you gain from silence and observation are worth far more than the comfort of narration. This is one of those sessions that sounds simple but could change how you run your next product review or demo.
Agency — Breaking the Permission Loop
“There is a necessity to understand ourselves and have some of this confidence, but that’s true for everybody, even our leaders. They may be stuck in permission loops with their own bosses.”
Tara Scott’s session on agency and breaking the permission loop touched a nerve for both hosts. Alina shared that in companies she’s worked for, drawn-out decision processes wasted resources and drove people to leave. Tara’s session tackles how to empower people to actually make decisions. Pete adds a crucial nuance: the permission loop isn’t just a top-down problem. Leaders are stuck in their own permission loops too. Everyone in the chain faces the same challenge, and the solution can’t be found in a vacuum — it requires understanding where each person is coming from and building flexibility across the team and organization. If this topic hits close to home, Tara is also doing a live Q&A during the summit.
Neurodiversity, Jeff Patton, and the Full Lineup
“Every time I have a conversation with Jeff Patton, it just goes in all kinds of directions, and I have so much fun.”
Pete flagged two more sessions worth watching. The neurodiversity session with Anita promises to open up a topic that deserves more airtime in the agile community — how different minds experience and contribute to team dynamics. And Jeff Patton, whose conversations with Pete apparently never follow a straight line, brings his signature blend of product thinking and people awareness. The full track covers a wide range: trust, leadership, inclusion, decision-making, neurodiversity. As Alina puts it, these topics are universal — they’re about human behavior, and that’s valuable in any field where you work with people.
A New Lens for Monday Morning
“I think people can take away from the track the ability to see other dynamics in their workplace that maybe they currently aren’t spending a lot of time paying attention to, or didn’t even realize were there.”
When asked what attendees will walk away with, both Alina and Pete landed on the same metaphor: a new lens. Alina described it as a better understanding of how human dynamics shape culture and performance, paired with practical tips that can be applied immediately — no theory, just real-life stories from real practitioners. Pete took the metaphor further, comparing it to putting on night vision goggles. After watching these sessions, you’ll start noticing dynamics you’d been walking past every day — relationship patterns, permission loops, communication gaps. And with that new visibility comes influence. You’ll realize you have more ability to shape your environment than you thought, simply because you can now see what was always there.
About Pete Oliver-Krueger and Alina Thapliyal
Pete Oliver-Krueger is an Executive Coach with the Library of Agile, and co-author of the book “Shift: From Product to People”, a novel that tells the complex story of how leading “people-first” is required to solve tomorrow’s biggest problems.
You can link with Pete Oliver-Krueger on LinkedIn, and visit Pete OK’s website at https://www.shiftingpeople.com/.
Alina Thapliyal is the Scrum Master for a team within the public sector. Her aspiration is to become an agile coach. She grew up in Romania and has been living in Germany for 13 years. She loves jogging, reading and actively listening to people’s life stories.
You can link with Alina Thapliyal on LinkedIn.
