Founder, Principle Instructor

Jim Schiel has more than 35 years of experience in software development, R&D management, leadership and Agile Development in highly regulated industries including healthcare and telecommunications. He has been a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) since 2005 and a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) and Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) since 2006 and a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) since 2008 when the certification was created.

Jim’s professional career started in 1983 as a systems programmer and operator. In 1985, he began working for Shared Medical Systems (purchased by Siemens Medical Solutions in 1999). He managed various development teams ranging in size from 5 to 80 developers where he instituted iterative project management processes and improved product quality, development performance, and customer satisfaction in his product areas. At Siemens, Jim transitioned an organization of 1,200 developers from waterfall and various iterative processes to Agile Development using Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP) practices. At the same time, Jim was coached by some of the thought leaders in the Agile space: Bob Martin, Jim Grenning, Mike Cohn, Ken Schwaber, and Esther Derby to name a few. Jim left Siemens in 2008 to begin working as an Agile coach and trainer and in 2009, founded Artisan Agility (formerly Artisan Software Consulting). Artisan provides coaching, training, and consulting to organizations attempting to transform into 21st century organizations.

Jim has been providing exceptional Agile training experiences for fifteen years and has trained more than 16,000 students in several countries around the world. He currently teaches several Scrum certification courses and provides workshops on agile leadership, Scrum and Agile techniques, agile management, release management, and more. Jim also provides coaching services to individuals and organizations looking to plan a transformation to agile development (using the Artisan Agility Chrysalis Framework) or to correct a transformation gone wrong.

Jim’s books, Enterprise-Scale Agile Software Development and The ScrumMaster’s Study Guide, published in 2009 and 2011 respectively, cover much of his experiences managing and guiding large-scale transformations as well as helping new Certified ScrumMasters learn how to use Scrum.

Jim has worked with companies and government organizations around the world, including the Project Management Institute (PMI), PepsiCo, Tektronix, Siemens, Schwab, H&R Block, JP Morgan Chase, Cisco, L3Harris, Capital One, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the US Air Force and the US Army and has helped save millions of dollars in costs by improving development practices and product quality.

Training Coordinator

LeAnne has spent all of her adult life in customer service. She has worked in banking, retail, hospitality, culinary, and travel. As a retired military wife, LeAnne knows how to adapt and overcome obstacles. A passion for food and cooking led her to culinary school late in life. In her off hours, LeAnne loves to expand her culinary knowledge by reading cookbooks, trying new recipes, and eating everything in sight.

Video Production & Graphics Designer

Jake brings a decade’s worth of experience creating and managing digital content. He holds a B.S. in Graphic Information Technology from Arizona State University. Not only does he bring creative experience, but years of experience in customer service. He knows how to combine his passion for creation along with his abilities to connect with and develop lasting customer relations.