Malcolm Bastien

Malcolm Bastien

Lean-Agile Delivery and Transformation Coach

Helping clients achieve organizational flow by implementing real agile-enabling practices and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

What I Do

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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Core Banking & Payments

Supported delivery of a major Canadian bank's U.S. Cash Management platform, Cross-Border Payments Transformation, and corporate payments APIs.

database
Data & Compliance

Guided teams in building Wealth Management Data Lake, supporting AML, KYC, and Fraud stakeholders.

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Open Banking

Facilitated the discovery and development of Open Banking APIs for Account Validation and real-time transaction monitoring.

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Digital Experience

Agile Coach for a digital banking platform and a major CRM implementation, leading discovery and delivery across five teams.

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HealthTech

Supported delivery of a new Pharmacy Management System for a national pharmacy chain in Quebec.

payments
Fintech

Supported integrations with financial data aggregators, accounting software, and Earned Wage Access (EWA) providers.

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Cloud & Managed Services

Designed and implemented a strategy operations portfolio Kanban board for a cloud services provider, based on the Flight Levels Model.

Experience

Agile Coach

2026 — Present

CIBC

Senior Agile Coach

2019 — 2026

Agile by Design

About the company

Toronto-based agile consultancy (founded 2015) that embeds delivery leaders inside client teams to improve flow, delivery performance, and operating model outcomes. Engagements include turning around $100M programs and driving 10× delivery-frequency gains. Led by Jeff Anderson, a published author and frequent speaker on modern agile 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.

workspace_premium 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
account_tree 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
query_stats 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
psychology 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 — 2019

Agile by Design

Agile 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 — 2017

Chango — 2013 to 2015

Acquired by Rubicon Project in April 2015.

Rubicon Project — 2015 to 2017

Dedicated 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 — 2016

West Toronto CrossFit — Greater Toronto Area, Canada

Coached 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 — 2011

Microsoft — Mississauga, Ontario

Contract Full-time

Organized 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 — 2009

Blast Radius — Greater Toronto Area, Canada

Social 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 — 2008

Labatt Breweries of Canada — Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Co-op

Category 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 — 2007

OLG — Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Co-op

Web 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

analytics

Flow & Analytics Platforms

Built SquadView, Team Flow Mapping, and the DelayCost Visualizer to improve planning and work sequencing.

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Strategic Mapping

Created the Wardley Doctrine & AI Impact Explorer to develop services focused on user needs.

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Agile Operating Systems

Published the Transformation Toolkit and Feature Prioritization Toolkit for enterprise agility.

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Planning Frameworks

Developed the Agile Big Room Planning tool and Team Readiness Review systems.

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Team Health

Published the Squad Health Check and Lean Waste Retrospective frameworks on Miroverse.

Expertise

loop Agile & Lean

Cost of Delay Kanban Scrum Toyota Kata Continuous Improvement Enterprise Service Planning Flow Lean A3

groups Leadership

Agile Transformation Culture Mapping OKRs Coaching Leadership Cross-Functional Alignment North Star Framework

memory AI & Agentic Workflows

Agentic Workflows LLMs Hermes Agent OpenClaw OpenCode

hub Systems

Domain-Driven Design Team Topologies Wardley Mapping Cynefin Flight Levels Organizational Design Sociotechnical Design Systems Thinking

shopping_cart Product Strategy

Fitness for Purpose Jobs to be Done Lean UX Kano Model Mental Model Diagrams Value Proposition Design

assignment Project Management

Agile Metrics Dependency Management End-to-End Delivery Impact Mapping Probabilistic Forecasting Story Mapping

draw Collaborative Modelling

User Journey Mapping Value Stream Mapping C4 Modelling

schema Domain-Driven Design

Strategic Design EventStorming Context Mapping Domain Storytelling

code Tools

Coda Confluence Excalidraw Jira Linux Miro Mural Obsidian SQL

Testimonials

"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."

— Management Consultant

"Malcolm played a key role as an Agile Coach... Even after many years, I still remember his calm presence and thoughtful facilitation style."

— Senior Product Manager

"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."

— Tech Lead

"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."

— Developer

"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."

— Technical Navigator
Certifications & Training
strategy 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
speed 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
code 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
Education
BComm, Business Technology Management

Ryerson University, Toronto

2005 — 2010