By Aly Virrey, Jaysel Bernardino, Vera Delos Santos
As businesses face unprecedented challenges and rapid technological advancements, the ability to remain agile is no longer just an advantage—it is a necessity for survival. Embracing an agile culture allows organizations to navigate uncertainty, respond swiftly to market shifts, and continuously innovate. The Aboitiz Group, recognizing the importance of continuous innovation, has redefined its approach to work by adopting agile methodologies that emphasize speed, efficiency, and a commitment to lifelong learning. This transformation empowers cross-functional teams to operate with greater autonomy, delivering meaningful results and driving the organization toward a future-ready state.
Guiding this transformation is Squad 3 of the Culture Tribe, a key driver in embedding Agile practices throughout the organization. Now in their second year of championing Agile across Aboitiz, the team has reached significant milestones. They continue to play a pivotal role in facilitating squad formation, conducting onboarding sessions, and organizing showcases—each initiative is designed to foster collaboration, accelerate Agile adoption, and inspire innovation.
Strengthening the Foundations through Squads
Throughout the year, the different BUs made significant strides in driving agility within the Aboitiz Group. For year 2, the number of squads grew from 192 to 376. Squad 3 continuously supported the adoption to Agile Ways of Working through onboarding the newly formed Agile Squads across several Strategic Business Units (SBUs). These squads were created with a focus on Agile principles such as Scrum, enabling them to work more collaboratively and deliver results more efficiently. The onboarding sessions were designed to introduce teams to the agile mindset, tools, and frameworks needed to thrive in a rapidly changing business environment.
This was followed through by continuous Agile Squad check-ins. These regular touchpoints allowed Squad 3 to gather feedback, share best practices, and address challenges faced by the teams, thereby helping maintain momentum and ensure that Agile squads were aligned with the Group’s overall goals.
Promoting GT and Culture Transformation
Another important piece in the transformation is promoting and expanding awareness around GT, culture, and Agile Ways of Working. To support this, Squad 3 developed different platforms to reach out to the entire conglomerate about the message of transformation. The microsite page for the Culture Transformation was created, which housed various information about mindsets, behaviors, capabilities, and agile ways of working like success stories, tools, and frameworks. Since the start of the year, the microsite page has garnered 3,228 views as of this writing. To encourage team members to visit the site, the squad started a QR code campaign, deployed virtual backgrounds, produced pull-up banners, and partnered with Super Duper Con. GT Caravans were also held by the AEV Transformation Team and Culture Tribe to align with BUs on GT2025 aspirations. The first one was held in UBX.
Supporting BU-Driven activities on Agile
The Aboitiz Business Units are commendable as they take ownership and drive their transformations.
Squad 3 provided support where needed to help the BUs in their Agile-related campaigns and programs.
Showcasing Agility, Pecha Kucha-style
To celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of some of the Agile Squads across the Group, Squad 3 led an exciting showcase held at the UnionBank Innovation Campus in San Pedro, Laguna in July. Agile squads from AboitizPower, UnionBank, UBX, the Food Group, Aboitiz InfraCapital, and Aboitiz Construction took the stage to present their innovative projects in the fast-paced PechaKucha format—20 slides, 20 seconds each. This event also recognized their accomplishments and shared the impactful ideas and solutions contributing to Aboitiz’s Great Transformation. Read more about the showcase here.
Harnessing Agility: What’s Next
As Squad 3 looks ahead to Year 3, their focus remains on deepening the Agile culture across the Aboitiz Group. One of their primary goals is to expand Agile practices, enabling and onboarding more squads from emerging sectors within the Group. This expansion will ensure that the benefits of Agility—faster decision-making, greater collaboration, and continuous improvement—are experienced by every part of the conglomerate.
A key ingredient in making this happen is to ensure the leaders are driving the transformation. Squad 3 is collaborating with the AEV Transformation Team and Reputation Management Department to create materials to equip leaders on how they can adapt agile in the work that they do and how they can teach the same to their teams. There will also be a series of Leader testimonials to be released across the Group’s internal and external channels.
Lastly, to encourage more innovation and collaboration, squad 3 will partner with the Synergy Office to create a 1-day ideathon event focusing on synergy. This event will target middle managers. This is an important group in the organization and having them onboard can be impactful in coming up with synergy ideas and in driving the transformation further.
Leading the Agility Movement
As the Aboitiz Group continues its Great Transformation, Squad 3’s efforts are helping to nurture a culture of agility that will drive the Group’s future success. Their initiatives in Years 1 and 2 laid a strong foundation, and their ambitious plans for Year 3 will further embed Agile practices, enabling the Aboitiz Group to adapt quickly and innovate continuously. With a steadfast commitment to collaboration and growth, Squad 3 is not just transforming processes but also empowering teams to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.
Stay tuned for the last chapter in our Special Series, where we highlight the incredible milestones achieved by Squad 1!
About the Culture Pillar
The Aboitiz Culture Pillar remains a key driver in the Group’s Great Transformation, ensuring every Team Member is aligned with the organization’s goals and aspirations in collaboration with the AEV Transformation Team. As we continue this cultural evolution, each leader and A-Person plays an essential role in shaping our journey toward becoming a Techglomerate. To dive deeper into the Culture Pillar’s mission and access the latest updates, stories, and resources, visit the Transformation Microsite today!
