Client
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)
Market
Energy & Utlities Critical Infrasture
Industry
Electric & Natural Gas
Offerings
Enterprise Agile Transformation, SAFe® Implementation
Challenge
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) operates one of the nation's most complex utility environments, delivering electricity and natural gas to millions of customers throughout Northern California. As the operator of nuclear power plants, hydroelectric dams, natural gas facilities, and other critical infrastructure, PG&E must continuously balance operational reliability, regulatory compliance, and technology modernization.
To better support these demands, PG&E's Office of the CIO launched an enterprise transformation initiative to modernize how technology investments were planned, funded, and delivered.
Key challenges included:
- Scaling Agile practices consistently across a large enterprise
- Aligning business and technology around shared product outcomes
- Transitioning from traditional project funding to a product-oriented operating model
- Coordinating planning and execution across multiple portfolios and delivery teams
- Building internal capability to sustain enterprise Agile practices after the transformation
PG&E required a transformation partner capable of delivering both organizational change and practical implementation across strategy, governance, and delivery.
Solution
LitheSpeed partnered with PG&E to implement the full Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) while establishing the governance, organizational structures, and leadership capabilities needed to sustain enterprise agility.
Enterprise SAFe® Implementation
LitheSpeed deployed SAFe practices across every level of the organization, including:
- Lean Portfolio Management (LPM)
- Value Streams
- Agile Release Trains (ARTs)
- Program Increment (PI) Planning
- Portfolio, Program, Team, and Enterprise-level governance
These capabilities created alignment from executive strategy through day-to-day delivery.
Enterprise Team Onboarding & Coaching
To ensure long-term sustainability, LitheSpeed:
- Launched and trained 32 Agile teams organized into three Agile Release Trains
- Mentored three PG&E leaders to earn their Scaled Agile Program Consultant (SPC) certifications
- Delivered both certified SAFe® courses and customized enterprise training tailored to PG&E's operating environment
Transition from Projects to Products
Working closely with both business and technology leaders, LitheSpeed helped redesign organizational operating practices to support a Product Operating Model. This included partnering with Corporate Finance to modernize funding processes that better supported continuous value delivery rather than project-based investments.
Agile Value Management Office (VMO®)
To coordinate the transformation, LitheSpeed established an Agile Value Management Office (VMO®) responsible for orchestrating multiple implementation workstreams, guiding the SAFe Transformation Team, and ensuring alignment across the enterprise.
Agile Toolchain & Delivery Enablement
LitheSpeed's experts streamlined Agile lifecycle management through Jira and related collaboration tools, improving transparency, backlog management, planning, and cross-functional collaboration.
Results & Impact
The engagement produced significant operational improvements while establishing a sustainable foundation for enterprise agility.
Organizational Outcomes
- Successfully implemented SAFe® across Enterprise, Portfolio, Program, and Team levels
- Transitioned the organization from project-based delivery toward a product-centric operating model
- Established an Agile Value Management Office (VMO®) to sustain transformation governance
- Modernized funding practices in partnership with Corporate Finance
- Launched 32 Agile teams across three Agile Release Trains
- Developed internal transformation leaders by mentoring three new SPCs
Business Impact
- Delivered a major customer-facing emergency communications website ahead of schedule and with higher quality than previous software deployments
- Improved strategic alignment between business priorities and technology execution
- Increased collaboration, transparency, and planning effectiveness across portfolios and stakeholders
Workforce Enablement
LitheSpeed built lasting Agile capabilities through comprehensive training, including:
SAFe® Certification Training
- Leading SAFe® — 79 participants
- SAFe® for Teams — 26 participants
- Lean Portfolio Management — 23 participants
Custom Training
- Value Stream Mapping — 43 participants
- SAFe Leadership — 12 participants
- Agile Baseline — 69 participants