Accelerate Your Career with SAFe

Knowledge of the Scaled Agile Framework is essential for leading enterprises through change.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is the industry-leading agile scaling framework. If you’re working (or coaching) at a company looking to transform its culture and process, you must have in-depth knowledge of the benefits and application of SAFe.

If you’ve been around the agile community for a while, you know that there are a lot of opinions around the framework. Some people love it, others hate it. In fact, there are several scaling models but only a few have demonstrated viable commercial success in helping organizations shift to agile ways-of-working. Despite your position, if you want to thrive in an agile career now and into the future, learning the depths of the SAFe framework needs to be part of your career journey.

From a hiring perspective, most project management positions, as well as other management positions, expect that you have expertise in agile. And the more involved you are as a leader, the more that SAFe as a skill is essential. In fact, 1 out of 4 companies who scale are using SAFe*. And from an earnings perspective, professionals with a SAFe certification (e.g. Scaled Agilist SA) earn nearly 20%** more than those who don’t.

Learning SAFe begins by understanding what the enterprise is doing (and why), speaking the language of power, spotting constraints, and gaining tools to influence behaviors. When you’re armed with this information, you’ll fast-track your role in bringing change to the enterprise.

Understand What the Enterprise Is Doing (and Why)

To lead an agile transformation at scale, you’ll need to examine the organization’s current ways of working, what’s holding them back from realizing goals with the existing operating model, and why it wants to change.

If the company has selected SAFe as its transformation framework, arm yourself with in-depth knowledge. If you disagree with aspects of the framework once you’ve studied it, you can challenge those points and coach the company intelligently through other options.

If your organization is adopting SAFe, don’t fight blindly. Learn the rules to understand how to bend or break them intelligently.

The Power Language of Scaling

The SAFe framework has several unique terms, and while you may not love the jargon, if company leaders are using it, you’ll want to too, so you can credibly navigate them through an effective transformation.

By familiarizing yourself with SAFe, you can effectively navigate executive conversations about how to create business value and improve customer impact. This helps bridge business strategy and work delivery. Key concepts that help enterprises adopt agile ways-of-working at scale such as Lean Portfolio Management, Agile Release Trains (ARTs), and value streams are critical to scaling. Understanding SAFe and its unique terminology builds your credibility with leaders and empowers you to reframe SAFe in more pragmatic, agile ways.

Spot the Real Constraints Behind the Buzzwords

SAFe often reveals organizational dysfunctions more than it solves them. By learning the full model, you can identify where SAFe may be masking deeper issues like bureaucracy, legacy funding models, and command-and-control culture.

By digging deeper and recognizing these constraints, you can help your organization focus on real transformation and business value creation, not checkbox agility.

Gain Tools to Influence from Within

We all know that knowledge is power, so having tools in your toolbox empowers you to gain influence.

It’s easier to guide change from inside the tent than shouting from the outside

When you understand the theory, language, and structure behind SAFe, you can help teams and leaders adopt smarter practices while quietly avoiding dogmatic pitfalls.

Fast-Track Your Role in the Change

As an agile coach or leader guiding change, you need the knowledge and skills to effectively lead the rollout, coach teams, and interpret the framework as it applies to your company’s goals. Without in-depth knowledge around SAFe, you risk being sidelined or reacting late, and leaders may take it into their own hands to make uneducated changes that can negatively impact the transformation.

If you’re a thoughtful skeptic who prefers clarity over Kool-Aid, now’s the time to get smart about SAFe. Understand the framework well enough to challenge it with intelligence, coach it with nuance, and navigate it with credibility.

Are you ready to accelerate your career with SAFe? Learn more about our Leading SAFe course.

*Source: State of Agile Report - digital.ai (2025) **Payscale 2025