About

About

Born From Necessity

While working for private companies for nearly 25 years, Jim Schiel experienced environments that were ineffective and toxic. He watched as exhausted and frustrated people were overrun by their organization and its demands. Long hours and constantly shifting priorities; a lot happening, but little being accomplished. In 2009, Jim took action and began building a company he knew could combat the chaos.

Our Vision

We see a world with leaders prepared for the 21st century, working cooperatively, leveraging change and uncertainty to the benefit of their organization and their community.

Jim Schiel, Founder & CEO

Meet Our Team

Jim Schiel

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.

LeAnne Notabartolo

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.

Jake Schiel

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.

FEATURED RESOURCE:

Successful Event Planning Guide

Swipe this FREE DOWNLOAD to supercharge your work sessions.

Normally available ONLY to Artisan students, we’re offering this handy guide to you for a limited time!

Certification Guarantee

We’re so confident in our training techniques that if you don’t pass the Certification Test on either of your two attempts that are included with your course, we’ll work with you to help you understand where you went wrong, and we’ll pay for you to re-take the test again and again until you pass.

We’ve offered this guarantee for several years, but nobody’s ever had to take us up on it!

Artisan Approach

Inspired Teams

Inspired teams build amazing products. Our experienced ScrumMasters identify what’s holding your teams back and turn them into high-performing teams by applying role-based training, team coaching, and professional staffing.

Measurable Results

The outcome and impact of products and projects must be clear; it’s the only way to increase profits. Our product management coaching, enterprise agility training, and enterprise agility consulting can help you stand out.

Agile Leaders

Agile leaders are the next generation of business leaders. They are passionate visionaries who attract loyal, hardworking team members with the help of our Scrum Certification training courses and our new Artisan Academy.

Testimonials

Here’s what some of our clients had to say about us:

Ruthy P.Ruthy P.
17:22 03 May 23
Jim is a fantastic instructor! The two-day Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) Certification Course with him was challenging and rewarding. He had an incremental way of teaching the course that starts with the fundamentals of Agile and Scrum, perfect for beginners! I enjoyed the group projects of creating a product that helped us to get a feel for what it would be like in this space. He is passionate and super knowledgeable about these topics and cares about his students, ensuring that you understand the material. I highly recommend Jim for all your certification, training, and consulting needs!
Vinita JetleyVinita Jetley
01:01 23 Mar 23
The trainer Jim is very knowledgable. He was able to answer all out questions and kept us engaged in the 2 day training.
yeodayeoda
16:16 26 Dec 22
Learned so much about the Scrum principles and roles for an effective Scrum team. The two day training course was a great use of time and I have already begun sharing with other friends in different organizations. Thanks Jim and Artisan Agility!
Leila KaylLeila Kayl
15:36 02 Nov 22
Jim was an excellent instructor.The course content was thorough and the interaction with Jim and the others taking the course was great. I was very well prepared after this course to pass the certification.
Christopher SmithChristopher Smith
19:02 11 Aug 22
Attended remote training session. Instructor Jim Schiel was knowledgeable and made the subject timely and interesting. I will be attending future events.
Jim was my instructor through this course. He was outstanding and everything he taught was compared to real life examples. This Company and their Instructors are worth the price of learning.
Michelle FrazierMichelle Frazier
13:11 16 Jun 22
Artisan Agility provided excellent training. The content was great and he provided real life scenarios that help align how SCRUM can help move concept to realization
Amanda MasonAmanda Mason
19:57 30 Mar 22
I just took the Certified Scrum Product Owner course virtually and it was super organized and informative. I'm able to take what I've learned and apply it to my daily responsibilities for better success of my project, team members, and customers.
R GrantR Grant
14:13 26 Feb 22
Jim was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Pacing of the class time was great. Content was applicable at work. Would definitely take another class with Artisan in the future.
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