Ali anchors a conversation that digs into the gap between AI hype and agile reality. With statistics showing agile adoption everywhere, he challenges Mark, Stephan, and Niko to examine what's actually happening when AI meets daily practice. The question isn't whether practitioners are using AI—they clearly are. The question is whether that usage is making teams better or just making individuals busier feeling productive. For anyone who's watched team members disappear into AI-assisted solo work, this conversation hits close to home.

The Amplifier Paradox Stephan brings his musician's eye: AI is like an amplifier—it makes whatever you're playing louder, not better. If your playing is poor, amplification just broadcasts the problem. He cites a study showing AI actually slows experienced developers by 19-20%. Are teams amplifying waste instead of eliminating it?

Documentation's Surprising Comeback Mark—a self-described "hater of documentation"—shares a revelation: AI is driving teams toward more documentation because AI thrives on context. The twist? That shared context helps remote teams reconnect in ways they've struggled with since COVID. Building mission statements and team knowledge isn't bureaucracy anymore—it's infrastructure for AI to work effectively.

Group Interactions Over One-on-One AI Niko proposes an update to the Agile Manifesto: "Group interactions over one-on-one AI interactions." The risk? Junior developers left alone with AI won't see the loopholes. The solution? Human + Human + AI pairing—not Human + AI in isolation. "Pairing with people plus AI," Niko argues, "not pairing with your AI."

The Post-COVID Reality Check Mark challenges a hidden assumption: most teams don't have the human interaction baseline they imagine. If the average team member's "collaboration" is occasional Teams messages and mandatory meetings, maybe AI isn't the threat to connection—maybe it's an opportunity to rebuild what COVID already broke.

Highlights

When the conversation turns to what AI means for agile's future, Mark frames the stakes as a personal question: "Is there an agile I dreamed of, and I fear that AI will mean I never get to see it anymore, or is there an agile that I dreamed of, and AI gives me a chance to uplift the possibility I might see it?"

Niko's closing advice cuts through the noise with characteristic directness: "Do not seek for speed, seek for value."

Stephan, meanwhile, delivers his takeaway as a Japanese haiku about developers sipping margaritas while compliance drowns. Peak Stephan.

Closing

The episode doesn't pretend AI's impact on agile teams is resolved. Instead, it surfaces the questions practitioners should be sitting with: Are you optimizing individual productivity while starving team connection? Is your AI usage building shared context or fragmenting it? As Ali summarizes: "Small, stable teams delivering value without the overhead of the mundane, powered by AI." The mundane goes away. The essence stays. That's the aspiration worth chasing.