Bret Spangenberg

I’m an approachable agile delivery and transformation leader with 15+ years of experience spanning enterprise agile transformation, SAFe implementations, portfolio and program management, agile coaching, and AI/ML delivery. I hold an Active Public Trust clearance and have delivered in both federal and commercial environments.

In my current role as an Agile Program Portfolio PMO Consultant, I launched PMO portfolio management, governance, and synchronization cadence, improving prioritization and progress tracking. I also built an enterprise agile delivery metrics dashboard for executive insight, led a team of 10 program managers, transitioned from Jira to Azure DevOps (with multi-million annual savings), and performed AI ROI analysis and value stream mapping to identify AI cost-savings opportunities.

Previously at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, I improved delivery by 20–50% across multiple digital experience and infrastructure teams through agile coaching and modern metrics. I built agile metrics for 35 teams, launched the organization’s first SAFe Agile Release Train, and delivered training sessions and lunch & learns for thousands while coaching teams to improve throughput and delivery outcomes by over 50%.

Earlier roles reinforced my hands-on leadership: I launched SAFe Release Trains at Mitel, reduced contact center production defects by ~90% through improved release practices, and standardized planning with templates and executive dashboards. At Northwestern Mutual, I led enterprise DevOps adoption across 300+ applications ($6M annual savings), launched four SAFe Agile Release Trains with 100+ contributors and budgets exceeding $15M, and delivered enterprise programs totaling $80M+ while reducing feature delivery timelines by 50% through automation and SAFe practices.