Most organizations scaled Agile at the team level—but still struggle to turn strategy into enterprise-wide results. This session introduces the Project-Driven Organization (PDO), an operating model that places projects at the core of value creation, funding, and governance. We’ll explore why “more Agile” isn’t the answer to portfolio overload or misaligned priorities, and how a PDO reframes execution around fewer, bigger, faster bets, outcome-based governance, role clarity for sponsors/owners, and a single source of truth for progress and benefits. We’ll ground the ideas with concrete examples—for instance, how Haier orchestrates cross-functional micro-enterprises around strategic projects, and how Mastercard aligns portfolio priorities and sponsorship to accelerate market launches.
SPEAKER PROFILE: Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is the global champion of project management and author of the “Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook” (HBR 2021) and Harvard Business Review magazine’s featured article “The Project Economy Has Arrived” (Nov 2021), which argues that Projects are the lingua franca of the business and personal worlds. Antonio is the most published author of project management articles in HBR. He is a Fellow and former Chairman of PMI.