Malcolm Bastien
Lean-Agile Delivery & Transformation Coach
Enterprise Agile Coach helping leaders in Fintech, Banking, and HealthTech build fast flow through systems thinking and aligned autonomy, empowering teams to deliver high-performance results at scale.
What I Do
Replacing bureaucratic friction with mathematical predictability, cognitive clarity, and humane engineering practices.
Promote Predictable Delivery
I help teams deliver better outcomes, faster, and more predictably by helping teams adopt agile-enabling practices and fostering a culture of rigorous continuous improvement.
Launch Complex Programs
I help organizations plan, organize, and run successful, high-stakes programs by breaking down ambiguous large-scale initiatives, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and creating enabling team structures.
Empower Teams
I focus on building trust-based, high-performance environments where decision-making is moved to the team level, empowering them to solve their own challenges.
Align Teams for Flow
I use Team Topologies and Domain-Driven Design to align teams and technology, reducing handoffs, optimizing cognitive load, and improving performance.
Delivery Highlights
Direct leadership within Tier-1 financial institutions, healthcare operators, and high-velocity digital ecosystems.
Core Banking & Payments
Supported delivery of a major Canadian bank's U.S. Cash Management platform, Cross-Border Payments Transformation, and corporate payments APIs.
Data & Compliance
Guided teams in building Wealth Management Data Lake, supporting AML, KYC, and Fraud stakeholders.
Account Validation Protocols
Facilitated the discovery and development of Open Banking APIs for Account Validation and real-time transaction monitoring.
Digital Banking & CRM
Agile Coach for a digital banking platform and a major CRM implementation, leading discovery and delivery across five teams.
Pharmacy Operating Systems
Supported delivery of a new Pharmacy Management System for a national pharmacy chain in Quebec.
Aggregator Ecosystems & Earned Wage Access
Supported integrations with financial data aggregators, accounting software, and Earned Wage Access (EWA) providers.
Strategy Flight Levels
Designed and implemented a strategy operations portfolio Kanban board for a cloud services provider, based on the Flight Levels Model.
Testimonials
Direct reflections from engineers, product directors, and consulting peers.
“I had the pleasure of working with Malcolm on a large-scale transformation initiative, and I can confidently say he is one of the most skilled and inspiring Agile Coaches I've had the opportunity to collaborate with.”
“Malcolm played a key role as an Agile Coach... Even after many years, I still remember his calm presence and thoughtful facilitation style.”
“His impact on our team was remarkable. He brought not only deep expertise in Agile practices but also a genuine ability to coach, mentor, and empower individuals.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Malcolm, where his guidance as an Agile Coach made a big impact on our team. He brought clarity, patience, and practical insights that helped us improve collaboration and deliver better outcomes.”
“I had the pleasure of working with Malcolm... he was always a pleasure to work with, good for a joke or two, but also an insightful discussion. Whenever I collaborated with Malcolm, he instilled confidence into what I was doing and highlighted different perspectives on the task at hand, which I greatly appreciated.”
Experience & Background
Nearly two decades spanning high-scale data analytics, boutique management consultancy, and premier financial institutions.
Agile Coach
2026 — PresentSenior Agile Coach
2019 — 2026Agile by Design is a premier boutique delivery consultancy embedding transformation leads directly inside enterprises to revamp operating models, turn around $100M+ programs, and generate 10× delivery-frequency improvements. Led by Jeff Anderson, a published author and frequent speaker on modern Agile and AI practice.
Senior Agile SME and Transformation Coach with a focus on Wealth, Payments, and Healthcare. Expert in sociotechnical design, organizational flow, and high-performing teams.
Delivery & Coaching
- • Led the delivery of complex systems across financial services and healthcare
- • Served as lead coach for large-scale initiatives, coordinating cross-functional teams
- • Led collaborative modelling sessions using EventStorming and Domain Storytelling to bridge business logic and software architecture
- • Fostered high-autonomy and psychological safety through coaching
- • Designed training workshops on agile practices and flow
- • Introduced experimentation frameworks to accelerate learning
Socio-Technical Design
- • Designed operating models using modern organizational patterns
- • Optimized value streams for fraud screening and client onboarding, reducing lead times and time-to-value
- • Applied Team Topologies and DDD to restructure team boundaries, reducing cognitive load and cross-team dependencies
- • Implemented Flight Levels system to visualize and manage portfolio operations and team-level delivery
Flow Engineering
- • Replaced gut-feel deadlines with Monte Carlo simulations for range-based commitments
- • Introduced Cost of Delay and custom prioritization frameworks for objective backlog sequencing
- • Implemented percentile-driven lead time and age of WIP reporting to improve predictability
Product Strategy & Discovery
- • Introduced OKRs and North Star practices, shifting teams from shipping features to achieving measurable business goals
- • Led discovery workshops using Impact Mapping, Lean UX Canvas, and Mental Model Diagrams to drive value-focused delivery
- • Implemented outcome-based transformation practices driven by business goals rather than adopting agile for its own sake
- • Early adopter of AI-augmented delivery, using LLMs to enhance story and scenario writing
Agile Coach
2017 — 2019Agile Coach focused on operating model transformation, quantitative planning, and team coaching within Wealth Management.
layers Operating Model & Culture
- • Led restructuring of a 400-person Wealth Management line of business from siloed support and delivery to an integrated Build-and-Run model, reducing handoffs and improving reliability
- • Facilitated culture mapping exercises with management to identify friction points and align desired outcomes with team behaviours and environmental enablers
insights Planning & Forecasting
- • Facilitated project discovery workshops using Lean UX Canvas, story mapping, impact mapping and risk storming; leveraged throughput forecasting and Monte Carlo simulations for data-driven plans
- • Introduced a structured hypothesis experimentation process with monthly MVPs, enabling multiple teams to shorten feedback loops with financial advisors
speed Flow & Continuous Improvement
- • Helped teams adopt cumulative flow diagrams, throughput and lead time distribution reporting to surface bottlenecks and improve delivery predictability
- • Facilitated team retrospectives and implemented lean A3 problem-solving to continuously improve team ways of working and performance
school Coaching & Enablement
- • Mentored Scrum Masters and internal coaches; coached cross-functional Scrum and Kanban teams across web services, ETL, AML, and client management domains
- • Designed and led Agile training workshops covering Scrum, Kanban, flow, user story mapping, MVPs, estimation, prioritization, Cost of Delay, and behaviour-driven design
Data Analyst
2013 — 2017Dedicated analyst for programmatic ad campaigns, partnering with account and optimization teams to drive performance across major clients and a long tail of advertisers.
query_stats Campaign Analysis & Optimization
- • Served as the dedicated analyst for a portfolio of programmatic ad campaigns, partnering with account and campaign optimization managers to drive performance for major clients at six-figure monthly spend and a long tail of smaller advertisers
- • Analyzed bid-level campaign data to deliver recommendations on bid adjustments, keyword and site targeting, creative performance, time-of-day pacing, and audience selection
verified Brand Safety & Viewability
- • Integrated third-party viewability and ad-fraud signals (e.g., Integral Ad Sciences) into campaign analysis to flag and exclude low-quality inventory in support of brand-safety and viewability goals
analytics Reporting & Automation
- • Generated ad-hoc, customized campaign performance reports for major clients
- • Built internal tools and automated reporting in Python (pandas) and SQL for the Data Analyst team, Account Managers and Campaign Optimization Managers
CrossFit Coach
2012 — 2016Coached small-group CrossFit classes, programmed workouts, and helped manage the gym's marketing — bringing the same data-driven approach to community and operations that I applied in my day job.
groups Coaching & Community
- • Coached small-group CrossFit classes on a part-time schedule, working with a broad member base spanning parents, young professionals, and amateur athletes
- • Adapted workouts to all levels, taught technique, and helped build a positive community that kept members coming back
- • Led introductory courses for new members, walking them through foundational movements
fitness_center Programming, Certifications & Operations
- • Held CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certificate, plus four CrossFit specialty trainer certifications (Strongman, Weightlifting, Defense, Endurance); integrated elements of each into regular class programming, dedicated technique sessions, and warm-ups
- • Programmed workouts and helped manage the gym's Google Ads campaigns
Marketing Specialist, Application Platform
2010 — 2011Organized a national multi-city customer roadshow to drive adoption of Microsoft's data platform and BI products across enterprise verticals.
event Event Execution
- • Organized a dozen customer workshops across Canada as part of the multi-city BizTalk roadshow with multiple days of training, focused on driving adoption of Microsoft's data platform and BI products across a full mix of enterprise verticals, including insurance and banking
- • Coordinated with Microsoft partners who led all technical training delivered at each event, while owning event planning, targeting, communications, and logistics
handshake Cross-Functional Collaboration
- • Worked with event managers, sales managers, product managers, external event partners, and Microsoft's data and insights team to align targeting, content, market and customer analysis, and post-event follow-through
Consumer Insights Analyst
2009 — 2009Social listening analyst for major consumer brands, surfacing sentiment drivers and conversation themes to inform brand strategy and campaign performance.
travel_explore Social Listening & Consumer Insights
- • Analyzed online sentiment and conversation themes for major consumer brands and their competitors across product launches, brand campaigns, and news events
- • Identified key themes, sentiment drivers, and narrative connections in consumer conversations, surfacing not just what people were saying, but why
insights Client Reporting & Enablement
- • Delivered regular client-facing performance reports directly to clients, and developed supporting analysis for the client presentations
- • Trained internal team members, peer analysts, and client teams on Radian6 and other social media monitoring platforms (Sysomos, Scoutlabs), supporting adoption across the agency and key accounts
Category Analyst
2008 — 2008Category Analyst co-op supporting space management, category analysis, and reporting for the retail sales organization.
storefront Category & Space Management
- • Supported space management and category analysis on the customer marketing team, helping organize and measure the profitability of retail product layouts
- • Created ad-hoc reports for internal customers across the business
code Tooling & Data Analysis
- • Built a custom Excel + VBA form tool with data validation for sales reps to capture customer data
- • Cleaned and analyzed the data from a nationwide customer survey, then improved the form's functionality
Solutions Development Analyst
2007 — 2007Web team co-op managing public-facing and internal content, including lottery winner announcements and the internal knowledge hub.
edit_note Content Management
- • Worked with the team managing content for both public-facing and internal-facing websites
- • Updated internal pages and knowledge hubs, and published external content, including lottery winner announcements
library_books Knowledge Hub Refresh
- • Contributed to a full refresh and reorganization of the internal knowledge hub
Published Tools
Interactive software, diagnostic frameworks, and official Miro templates built for agile coaches and delivery leads.
SquadView
Turn organizational complexity into a clear, visual map of your work ecosystem — so teams, meetings, and delivery systems are easy to see and align.
Agile Big Room Planning
Align large teams around shared priorities, surface cross-team dependencies, and coordinate delivery in a single planning session.
Flow & Analytics Platforms
Built Team Flow Mapping and the DelayCost Visualizer to improve planning and work sequencing.
Strategic Mapping
Created the Wardley Doctrine & AI Impact Explorer to develop services focused on user needs.
Agile Operating Systems
Published the Transformation Toolkit and Feature Prioritization Toolkit for enterprise agility.
Team Readiness Review
Reveal how aligned and equipped your team is to respond to change, surface the biggest gaps, and give leaders clear guidance on how to support.
Squad Health Check
Track team health across multiple dimensions over time, spot struggling teams across a portfolio, and see beyond productivity to how happy and fulfilled people feel.
Lean Waste Retrospective
Visualize the eight forms of Lean waste, reveal how much is slowing your team down, and leave with concrete actions to eliminate it.
FlowStorming Workshop
Visualize your team's end-to-end value stream, surface handoffs and coordination costs, and target improvements where they'll have the biggest impact.
Service Maturity Mapping
Connect your service to its customers, see how well each need is being met, and map the maturity of the capabilities required to support them.
Core Expertise & Systems Toolkit
A multi-disciplinary blend of operational research, software architecture, product heuristics, and autonomous AI design.
Agile & Lean
Leadership
AI & Agentic Workflows
Systems
Product Strategy
Project Management
Collaborative Modelling
Domain-Driven Design
Tools
Certifications & Education
Continuous formal study in complex sensemaking, statistical operations, and systemic software architecture.
Strategy, Sensemaking & Organizational Architecture
- Awareness in Wardley Mapping GCAT
- Flight Levels Systems Architecture Flight Levels Academy
- Flight Level 2 Design Flight Levels Academy
- Introduction to Flight Levels Flight Levels Academy
- Cynefin Masterclass Cognitive Edge
- Re-wilding Agile Masterclass
- Designing Epistemically Healthy Organizations Agendashift
- Agendashift Deep Dive
Operational Flow & Quantitative Delivery
- Kanban Coaching Professional (KCP) Kanban University
- Kanban Management Professional (KMP) Kanban University
- Enterprise Services Planning (ESP) Kanban University
- Practical Forecasting Essentials Focused Objective
- Practical Metrics and Coaching Using Data Focused Objective
- Data-Driven Coaching Focused Objective
- Dependency Management Focused Objective
- Fast Flow of Change
- Kanban Maturity Model
- TPS Leadership Masterclass
Technical Product Discovery & Leadership
- Independent Value Streams with DDD
- Domain Storytelling Workshop
- EventStorming Facilitation
- Gherkin Masterclass
- Toyota Production System Leadership Masterclass
- Technical Leadership Masterclass
- Managing Virtual Teams
- Accelerated Performance Program
- Level 1 Empathy Toy Training Twenty One Toys
Bachelor of Commerce (BComm)
Major in Business Technology Management • Ryerson University, Toronto