Scrum Alliance® became aware of a petition titled “Support Scrum Alliance Certified Coaches” on December 5, 2024. The petition called for a response from Søren Filbert, Scrum Alliance Board Chair. The petition can be read here. The official response to the petition has been copied below.
Dear Scrum Alliance Coaching Community,
Thank you for expressing your concerns regarding the direction of Scrum Alliance coaching certifications. We deeply value the dedication, expertise, and contributions of our certified coaches and the broader agile coaching community. Your feedback is essential to ensuring that we continue to serve our mission of expanding the knowledge and adoption of agility.
We want to address the key points raised in your letter and provide clarity on our current evaluation process. At the highest level, though, I want to assure you that Scrum Alliance strongly believes in, and is investing heavily in, the importance of agile coaches. The program changes aim to replace the “application-based” process—often criticized for being overly subjective and requiring third-party certifications—with a robust learning path that offers direct resources for those pursuing agile coaching. Our intent is not to devalue the coaching role, but rather to spread the practice and impact of agile coaching by providing high-quality, accessible education on the value and practice of coaching skills. This is the exact kind of activity that Scrum Alliance, as a 501(c)(6), should be engaging in to advance and improve business conditions by raising education and awareness about agile coaching.
Supporting the Agile Coaching Community
Scrum Alliance remains deeply committed to supporting agile coaches and advancing the agile coaching profession. Over the past year, we have invested significantly in learning content and experiences focused on agile coaching, including:
- Research, articles, events, and webinars promoting the value and impact of agile coaching.
- A robust series of on-demand courses dedicated to agile coaching education.
- Collaboration with thought leaders and organizations to elevate the profile of agile coaching across industries.
Current Status of Coaching Certifications
The Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC™) and Certified Team Coach (CTC) badges that our community members have earned are not going away. Active CECs and CTCs can continue to display their badges and be recognized for holding these certifications. Beginning January 6, 2025 we are no longer accepting new CEC and CTC applications, however, we will continue to evaluate ways in which we can recognize expert-level coaches.
Recognition of Guide-Level Coaches
We recognize and value the contributions of CECs and CTCs as guide-level coaches. These certifications represent a significant investment of time, effort, and expertise, and they will continue to be recognized as such. It is worth noting that the term "guide-level" is primarily used internally and is not widely recognized in the broader market. Nevertheless, we are committed to honoring the accomplishments and advanced expertise of those who hold these certifications. In fact, we hope that our CEC and CTC community will be among the first to apply for approval to offer coaching-related microcredential and certification programs, and we are working on a process to facilitate this. You are the experts in agile coaching practices, and we want to give the next generation of agile coaches the opportunity to learn directly from your expertise.
Expanding the Reach of Agile Coaching
One of our primary goals as a 501(c)(6) organization is to broaden the reach and impact of agility. While CEC and CTC certifications have demonstrated value, the total number of certifications issued—fewer than 500 since 2007, with 347 still active today—illustrates a limited scale of impact. To address this, we are introducing the Certified Agile Coach® (CAC™) certification, which aims to bring foundational agile coaching skills to a much broader audience.
The CAC will not be a guide-level certification, as its rigor does not align with that designation. Instead, it is designed to equip more individuals with essential coaching skills, enabling them to drive agile practices within their organizations. This aligns with our mission to make agility more accessible and impactful worldwide and to spread awareness and appreciation for the importance and complexity of agile coaching. We acknowledge your feedback that an expert-level recognition for more experienced coaches remains valuable to coaches as individual practitioners and to maintaining the recognition of the achievements of our more advanced coaches. For this reason, we are going to maintain the CEC and CTC badges for those who have earned them, even though we are discontinuing the application process and will not issue any new CECs or CTCs as we continue their evaluation.
As noted below, we are also investing in the creation of numerous agile-coaching related microcredentials for the specific purpose of improving the agile coaching business and bolstering its importance. We believe that these introductory-level courses will help more people understand the role and value of agile coaches, begin to develop these critical skills, and become interested in an agile coaching path. Some may be satisfied with these foundational skills, while others may move on to a CAC certification and beyond. Regardless, we believe that it is Scrum Alliance’s role to offer the educational resources and learning paths to bring future agile coaches along this journey.
Evaluating Programs with Mission-Driven Focus
As an organization, we must continually assess the effectiveness and sustainability of our programs. This includes evaluating the cost of maintaining certifications relative to their impact on our mission. Additionally, we must adapt to changes in market demand and consumer behavior to ensure our offerings remain relevant and accessible. This is exactly what we are doing in this evaluation and future evolution of our coaching programs.
Invitation for Further Collaboration
We appreciate your dedication to the agile coaching profession and your support of our mission. A number of coaches within our community are already involved in advising and overseeing these new coaching programs, and we welcome feedback from all who are interested in contributing. We invite you to continue sharing your insights and concerns as we navigate these decisions. If you have anything you would like to share, please reach out to the Scrum Alliance team.
Thank you for your continued partnership in shaping the future of agility, especially agile coaching. Together, we can ensure that agile coaching remains a vital and respected component of the scrum and agile ecosystem.
Sincerely,
Søren Filbert
Board Chair, Scrum Alliance