Most organizations don’t fail at transformation because they lack frameworks, talent, or technology.

They fail because they’re solving the wrong problem.

Despite years of Agile, DevOps, and digital initiatives, many enterprises are slower, more frustrated, and less adaptive than before. Teams are told to “move faster,” while governance slows them down. Leaders demand autonomy, but reward control. Platform teams build capabilities no one can use. AI promises acceleration - yet mostly exposes deeper dysfunction.

This talk introduces The Horizon Problem: the structural mismatch between how organizations want to change and how they are actually designed to operate.

Drawing on real transformation work and the forthcoming book The Horizon Problem: Why Transformations Fail - and What Actually Works, this keynote presents the Three-Layer Transformation Model (TLT Model) - a simple but powerful lens that explains why most change efforts stall:

* The Flow Layer: where value is supposed to move
* The Enablement Layer: where friction should be removed
* The Leadership Layer: where decisions, incentives, and safety are shaped

The core insight:

You cannot fix one layer in isolation.
Transformations fail when flow, enablement, and leadership evolve at different speeds - or in opposite directions.

Through concrete examples, recognizable failure patterns, and practical diagnostics, this talk helps leaders and practitioners:
* See why “doing Agile” or “doing DevOps” often makes things worse
* Understand why platform engineering and AI fail without leadership change
* Identify which layer is actually blocking progress in their organization
* Learn what sequenced, sustainable transformation really looks like

This is not another methodology.
It’s a way to see the system you’re already in - and finally change it without breaking trust, safety, or people.

The result: fewer transformation programs, fewer illusions of progress - and organizations that can actually learn, adapt, and deliver.