Portrait of Pooya Pakzad

Pooya Pakzad

Senior Program Manager, Agile Evangelist, Software Engineer

Summary

Senior technical program manager with 15+ years of experience leading complex technology programs across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and enterprise software. I combine a software engineering and architecture background with portfolio governance, Agile transformation, and delivery leadership in highly regulated environments.

I use AI tools every day, including Claude, Copilot, and Gemini, to speed up specification writing, requirements analysis, and delivery planning. I lead through strengths-based coaching: developing people, turning ideas into action, and building inclusive collaboration. I studied computer science at UC Berkeley and EPFL, speak English, German, French, and Persian, and have worked in North America and Europe.

Education

  • M.S., Computer Science (Distributed Internet Computing)

    EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

  • B.A., Computer Science

    UC Berkeley, California

Core competence

Program and portfolio leadership
Portfolio governance, strategic planning, program execution, risk and dependency management, executive stakeholder management, portfolio health metrics, change leadership, roadmap and capacity planning
Software engineering and architecture
Software architecture, enterprise application development, distributed systems, API design and integration, SDLC leadership, cloud-native systems, DevSecOps, CI/CD
Governance, risk, and compliance
Audit readiness, regulatory compliance, technology risk management, governance framework design, penetration test coordination, vulnerability remediation oversight
AI and data
AI-augmented delivery, prompt design and context engineering, specification writing, workflow automation, analytics and KPI frameworks, evaluation of emerging technologies
Transformation and operations
Organizational transformation, operating model evolution, process optimization, continuous improvement, M&A integration, Agile coaching (SAFe, Scrum, Kanban)
Leadership and collaboration
Global team leadership, executive communication, workshop facilitation, requirements engineering, vendor management, influence without authority

Experience

Senior Agile Program Manager

May 2023 to January 2026

U.S. Bank, Cupertino, CA

Led technology programs and organizational transformation in a highly regulated financial services environment, working with engineering, architecture, product, and executive leaders on portfolio governance, delivery, and post-acquisition integration.

  • Led MARA, the merger integration plan that moved the acquired product talech into U.S. Bank Business Banking, aligning operating models, delivery workflows, tooling, and governance across product and engineering.
  • Designed a data-driven Agile maturity assessment framework that raised organizational adoption and effectiveness from 54% to 86% in two years, with targeted coaching and executive visibility into organizational health.
  • Guided delivery governance and strategic alignment across 12 Agile teams in the U.S., Europe, and India.
  • Integrated and governed enterprise platforms (Salesforce, Jira, ServiceNow, and Dragonboat) to improve visibility, prioritization, planning, and reporting.
  • Built portfolio health reporting, dependency management, risk governance, and executive dashboards that gave leaders live visibility into status, risks, and delivery performance.
  • Established release management, environment governance, and audit-ready delivery practices to meet regulatory expectations.
  • Introduced AI-assisted workflows with Claude and Copilot for requirements analysis, backlog refinement, and sprint preparation.
  • Coached senior leaders, managers, and delivery teams on Agile, Lean, and flow-based practices.

Value Stream Line Manager and Agile Transformation Leader

December 2020 to March 2023

Credit Suisse AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Led a global technology organization supporting transaction banking, regulatory controls, and billing platforms, owning programs from business case and funding through production deployment.

  • Led and developed about 26 software, test, and requirements engineers across five teams, each organized around its own application.
  • Built the business case, feasibility analysis, charter, budget, and roadmap to replace a third-party billing platform with an internally developed solution, then ran a phased migration with no disruption to the business. The program saved cost and removed the vendor dependency.
  • Kept the multi-year platform program on its timeline through major budget cuts by reprioritizing scope and protecting critical initiatives.
  • Cut release deployment windows from four hours to two and eliminated after-hours releases through better gating, automation, and readiness criteria.
  • Coordinated recurring penetration tests with external specialists and the remediation that followed, strengthening secure development practices across teams.
  • Created an enterprise Agile maturity assessment framework that identified improvement opportunities and guided targeted transformation work.
  • Built dashboards and workflow automation that reduced manual work, and ran weekly program reviews, dependency forums, and RAID governance.
  • Managed vendors and procurement through Beeline, keeping contracts aligned with delivery goals.

Technical Program Manager and Agile Coordinator

June 2014 to July 2020

TRUMPF Laser Marking, Grüsch, Switzerland (consulting engagement via CURE-IT AG)

Led engineering delivery and product requirements for TRUMPF's 3D laser marking software platform, part of its Industry 4.0 initiative, working with engineering, product, operations, and executive leaders in Germany and Switzerland.

  • Served as engineering lead across architecture, front-end and back-end development, code reviews, and delivery.
  • Designed a modular architecture and API integration framework connecting the platform to a third-party CAD platform, and led the vendor engagement and contract.
  • Introduced a unified Definition of Done and raised automated test coverage above 80%, enabling predictable biweekly releases.
  • Reduced technical debt from about 30% to under 5% through technical debt governance.
  • Ran hazard and risk assessments for visible and invisible laser technologies to keep systems safe and compliant.
  • Built KPI dashboards, governance frameworks, and communication models, and represented the technology organization in executive reviews with the CEO and CTO.

Additional experience

  • Technical Program Manager and Senior Requirements Engineer, CURE-IT AG / Refusion GmbH, Zug, Switzerland
  • Software Architect, Routerank AG, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Research and Development, Logitech, Canada
  • Scientific Engineer, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Software R&D and Architect, Epic Systems Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin
  • Software Engineer, Workday Adaptive Planning, Mountain View, California

Certifications

  • Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI, in progress
  • Generative AI for Project Managers, PMI, 2026
  • Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II), Scrum.org, 2026
  • Professional Agile Leadership (PAL I), Scaled Agile (SAFe), 2022
  • SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), Scaled Agile (SAFe), 2020
  • Requirements Engineering, University of Zurich, 2019
  • Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I), Scrum.org, 2013

Copies are on the certificates page.

Technical skills

Engineering
Distributed systems, software architecture, API design and integration, C#, Java, JavaScript, PHP, SQL and relational databases, data pipelines, test automation, performance optimization, observability
Cloud and delivery
Azure, AWS, DevSecOps, CI/CD toolchains, release management, secure SDLC, vulnerability management
Tools and platforms
Atlassian (Jira and Confluence), Azure DevOps, GitHub, ServiceNow, Salesforce, DragonBoat, Beeline, Clarity PPM, OnePPM, Microsoft Project, Power BI, Tableau
AI
Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, prompt design, context engineering, workflow automation

Leadership and community

  • Volunteer program contributor, PMI San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, supporting sustainability initiatives and cross-chapter collaboration
  • Competitive rowing, US Rowing: teamwork, discipline, and endurance
  • Member, Network, the Gay Business Leadership Network in Switzerland (network.ch)