CBA Harnesses AI to Enhance Its ‘Big Room Planning’
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Quick Read
- CBA employs Atlassian Intelligence AI to optimize its quarterly ‘big room planning’.
- 16,000 employees from Australia and India engage collaboratively in each planning period.
- AI condenses extensive Jira and Confluence documents, cutting down 2500 hours each month.
- Teams reclaim 14 hours a month by utilizing AI for dissecting epics into user stories.
- Internal customer satisfaction has notably increased due to AI incorporation.
- Software deployment speed has tripled, with 9000 features launched monthly.
CBA Incorporates AI to Revolutionize Big Room Planning
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its quarterly Agile ‘big room planning’. This initiative connects 16,000 staff across Australia and India to unify software delivery objectives and operational focuses.
By implementing Atlassian Intelligence — an AI application integrated within the Atlassian Cloud ecosystem — CBA is refining collaboration, enhancing efficiency, and improving internal satisfaction across the organization.
Establishing the Foundation for AI-Driven Collaboration
Prior to adopting AI, CBA embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation. In recent years, the bank transitioned its Jira and Confluence setups from conventional on-premises arrangements to the Atlassian Cloud. This shift paved the way for the smooth introduction of Atlassian Intelligence, fostering a more scalable and adaptable collaborative landscape.
AI’s Role in Enhancing Big Room Planning
Condensing Complicated Documentation
A major hurdle during big room planning sessions is handling the vast amount of information. Jira dependency tickets frequently cite extensive documents housed in Confluence. With Atlassian Intelligence, CBA can now automatically condense these documents, enabling teams to quickly grasp essential points without sifting through extensive content.
Speeding Up Communication and Decision-Making
In the past, achieving consensus required an exhausting loop of document assessments, emails, and meetings. AI now allows CBA teams to dive straight into the main issues, promoting faster and more effective discussions. This has significantly enhanced the pace at which decisions are reached and solutions are implemented.
Quantifiable Efficiency Improvements Throughout
Time Savings and Higher Productivity
Helen Lau, CBA’s General Manager of Engineering Platforms, disclosed that AI has facilitated approximately 2500 hours savings per month by summarizing critical delivery documents. Moreover, Agile teams comprising 10 to 20 members are saving 14 hours each monthly by using AI to break down larger epics into achievable user stories.
Scaling Across 1100 Teams
With 1100 teams operating within CBA, the aggregate time savings are significant. These efficiencies enable team members to dedicate more time to innovation rather than administrative tasks, directly enhancing product delivery and customer experience.
Favorable Impact on Internal Customer Satisfaction
In addition to operational efficiencies, AI’s implementation has greatly boosted internal customer satisfaction. Lau emphasized that receiving positive remarks from internal stakeholders — often rare in IT settings characterized by incident reports — has been a significant morale booster for teams across the organization.
Enhancing Product Delivery Speed
Since embracing Agile and DevSecOps methodologies, and now amplifying them with AI, CBA has tripled its monthly production modifications. Lau noted that three years ago, the bank was delivering 2000 to 3000 changes monthly. Today, that number has skyrocketed to 9000 changes, including new features like chatbots, prompts, and user interface enhancements.
Conclusion
CBA’s strategic commitment to AI-driven big room planning is yielding tangible benefits in terms of operational efficiency, employee satisfaction, and customer impact. By utilizing Atlassian Intelligence, the bank has streamlined its Agile planning process while significantly increasing its software delivery pace. As digital transformation continues to reshape the financial landscape, CBA is establishing a model for how large organizations can effectively incorporate AI into their operations.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is big room planning?
A:
Big room planning is an extensive Agile activity where numerous teams convene to align on priorities, address dependencies, and establish goals for the upcoming quarter. It encourages transparency, collaboration, and strategic prioritization across an organization.
Q: In what ways is Atlassian Intelligence beneficial for CBA?
A:
Atlassian Intelligence is utilized to summarize documents, expedite decision-making, and dissect elaborate projects into manageable tasks. It saves a considerable amount of time and improves communication during the bank’s quarterly planning sessions.
Q: How much time is CBA saving due to AI?
A:
CBA is saving about 2500 hours monthly on document summarization and 14 hours for each squad each month in breaking down epics into user stories across 1100 squads.
Q: What effect has AI had on software delivery at CBA?
A:
AI has enabled CBA to triple its monthly software releases, increasing from 2000–3000 changes per month to roughly 9000 changes, considerably improving the bank’s capacity to deliver new features to customers.
Q: Which tools are central to CBA’s AI-augmented planning?
A:
Jira and Confluence, both cloud-based Atlassian solutions, are integral to CBA’s planning framework, with Atlassian Intelligence embedded to automate and enhance collaboration and document-related tasks.
Q: Has there been a shift in employee sentiment?
A:
Indeed, internal customer satisfaction has notably improved, with many employees expressing gratitude for the new AI-driven efficiencies — a significant shift from the typical incident-focused feedback.
Q: What larger trends does this indicate in the banking sector?
A:
It signifies a rising trend of banks adopting AI and Agile methodologies to foster quicker innovation, enhance efficiency, and provide superior digital experiences for customers in an increasingly competitive environment.
