Country: Brazil

São Paulo State Department of Treasury

“The most significant gain, in my view, is intangible: Today, the relationship between IT and business is peaceful and collaborative. People work with much more ease and face fewer conflicts.”

—Roberto Lopes de Carvalho, Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado de São Paulo

Industry:

Government

Quick Facts:

  • São Paulo State Department of Treasury (SEFAZ-SP) has approximately 8,000 employees.
  • The department manages $230 billion in taxpayer revenue.
  • Its structure includes 18 regional tax units, dozens of tax posts, as well as administrative and service units covering all 645 municipalities in the state.
  • With SAFe Essential chosen as the starting point and with the help of Adaptworks as a trusted partner, the first ARTs (Agile Release Trains) were launched in July 2019.
  • SAFe allowed the department to leverage cutting-edge technologies in electronic systems and digital services.

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:

  • Between 2019 and 2021, the department saw a 296% increase in the number of features delivered or in progress.
  • Teams saw a 12% reduction in the number of incidents to manage.
  • The department reported a 42% increase in infrastructure project delivery rates.
  • They adopted a clearer definition of responsibilities between business and IT.
  • Stakeholders reported stronger alignment between development, security, and infrastructure through DevOps.

Overview

With the challenge of managing 230 billion in revenue collection from taxpayers in the State of São Paulo, SEFAZ-SP followed a path with the help of SAFe to establish new milestones in the public management of its services. 

This journey led to results such as increased efficiency, continuous value delivery, and greater collaboration between the areas involved in the deliveries.

About SEFAZ-SP

The Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado de São Paulo, responsible for the highest ICMS revenue collection among Brazilian states, is headquartered in the capital and operates throughout the state of São Paulo. Its structure includes 18 regional tax units, dozens of tax posts, as well as administrative and service units covering all 645 municipalities in the state.

With a workforce of approximately 8,000 employees, the institution combines the most modern concepts and practices of public management with the continuous improvement of high-quality services for citizens, both in-person and remotely. It leverages cutting-edge technologies in electronic systems and digital services. 

Problem Statement

After an evaluation process that took place in 2017, SEFAZ- SP encountered a scenario typical of organizations that are in the early stages of an Agile transformation.

As a response to the situation it was facing, SEFAZ-SP adopted Scrum as a work process for its teams. The results and benefits of this adoption quickly became evident through increased delivery speed and improved alignment between Product Owners and business areas. 

According to Margarita Gómez, Executive Director of the PeopleGov Lab at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, one of the main challenges of public service in Brazil is aiming for a government that is agile, flexible, and innovative.

And it was precisely in this direction that SEFAZ-SP initially guided its transformation strategy, under the leadership of Roberto Lopes de Carvalho, Deputy Director of the Information Technology Department, responsible for the entire organization, structure, and service delivery related to technology products and services.

“We were facing a problem with incremental and waterfall management models, using PMI techniques for tracking. Essentially, there was a constant state of conflict and contract renegotiation between technology and business areas, which we decided to address by adopting Scrum for team management. We started with a few teams and quickly expanded as the initial experience was excellent,” says Roberto Lopes de Carvalho, Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado de São Paulo

An important step had been taken, but there was still something SEFAZ-SP needed to address to further accelerate its transformation: Scaling all its Agile initiatives across the institution without compromising the quality, efficiency, and value generation that had been individually achieved by the teams up to that point.

The Challenge

Over time, it became clear that although teams were delivering individual results, they still needed better alignment with operations and the institution’s service area. The challenging scenario involved a large number of applications requiring integrations with both internal and external services. Even though development had become faster, it still lacked synchronization and cadence across the various teams.

“For a while, we experienced the phenomenon of a fast car without a rearview mirror. It was common for a team to be developing an application, complete one stage, and then realize that the next stage—handled by another team, sometimes requiring a different integration—was not yet ready,” adds Carvalho.

The lack of synchronization and alignment, along with the loss of knowledge at the end of projects due to the reallocation of professionals, raised a red flag for Roberto.

The Path Forward

In 2019, after an evaluation led by Roberto and supported by market references and data, SEFAZ-SP decided that SAFe could meet their needs.

The process began with a consultation with Scaled Agile, where SEFAZ-SP sought a certified and reliable partner capable of offering the full portfolio of SAFe training, along with the consulting support they needed.

Adaptworks was recommended as the pioneer in bringing SAFe to Brazil in 2014 and for establishing itself as the leading SAFe company in Latin America, recognized for its consulting support to various organizations and for having trained over 5,800 professionals in SAFe.

With SAFe Essential chosen as the starting point, the first ARTs (Agile Release Trains) were launched in July 2019. As the process gained momentum, representatives from all technology areas, agile teams, and key stakeholders from business areas were integrated into the ARTs, assuming roles such as Business Owners, Product Managers, and Product Owners.

One of the initial challenges was skepticism and resistance to the ongoing changes, as well as uncertainty among professionals regarding their roles and responsibilities within the new framework.

This natural adaptation process was mitigated through SAFe alignment ceremonies and coordination meetings with all stakeholders.

“We found a work framework with well-defined roles, which greatly helped in identifying the right people for each role and clarifying their responsibilities. Once we overcame this initial challenge, we had to launch the ARTs and form the teams — each sometimes at different levels of maturity and with varying experiences in agility. However, we always respected these differences and embraced the methods or solutions that each ART discovered for itself,” highlights Carvalho.

Over the course of several months, Adaptworks contributed to the learning journey of Business Owners, RTEs, Product Managers, and agile team members by delivering 100% of the SAFe training offered by Scaled Agile.

Adaptworks also provided support for launching the ARTs, which played a key role in enabling SEFAZ-SP to maintain and offer its 72 digital services to the citizens of São Paulo.

Results

The result of the partnership between SEFAZ-SP and Adaptworks is reflected in the absolute numbers achieved between 2019 and 2021:

In addition to the gains mentioned above, other notable improvements have emerged from SEFAZ-SP’s adoption of SAFe, generating a positive impact across the organization:

  • Clearer definition of responsibilities between business and IT
  • Stronger alignment between development, security, and infrastructure through DevOps
  • A shift in how technology-related matters are perceived, leading to greater alignment with the modernization of strategic planning, which now incorporates quarterly OKRs synchronized with Program Increment (PI) cadences.

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SAFe® Day Brazil

SAFe® Day Brazil

Junte-se a nós para o SAFe Brazil Day!

When:

May 30, 2025, 9:00 am – May 30, 2025, 6:00 pm BET

Where:

Brasília, Parque Tecnológico de Brasília

Who:

Agile Coach, Product Manager, Product Owner, Program or Project Manager, Scrum Master

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Event Overview

O SAFe® Day Brazil realizado pela Adaptworks é um encontro imperdível na agenda de executivos, líderes e especialistas da comunidade ágil brasileira em busca de insights sobre como escalar a agilidade no setor público, aprender e debater sobre impulsionar a transformação Lean-Agile com SAFe® ou desejam conhecer os casos reais de aplicação no Banco do Brasil e Petrobras.

Speakers

Stosh Misiaszek

Senior Director of Federal Business Development, (Scaled Agile)

SAFe® Meetup no Rio de Janeiro

SAFe® Meetup no Rio de Janeiro

Meetup presencial sobre o Case de Transformação Ágil na Globo e Painel sobre os desafios da Business Agility no novo cenário econômico mundial da Scaled Agile.

When:

August 14, 2024, 6:30 pm – August 14, 2024, 9:30 pm BET

Where:

Rua Sete de Setembro, 48/12º andar – Centro – RJ

Who:

Agile Professionals, Business Owners, Tech Professional

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Event Overview

Temos um convite para a comunidade ágil do Rio de Janeiro: um encontro presencial dinâmico e pensado para promover interações significativas e networking entre profissionais muito qualificados.

Uma oportunidade valiosa para:

  • Descobrir como está sendo a transformação ágil das áreas Corporativas de Finanças e Supply Chain da Globo, com o líder de tecnologia, Alexandre Donner
  • Fazer parte do lançamento oficial da comunidade independente SAFe® for Business Agility com Ary Figueira, Enterprise Agility Coach com mais de 24 anos de experiência de mercado
  • Expandir sua rede de contatos profissionais em um ambiente colaborativo, informal e acolhedor.

Speakers

Roberto Argento

SAFe® Strategic Advisor at Scaled Agile, Inc

B3, the Brazilian Stock Exchange, Aligns Teams and Delivers Faster with SAFe

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B3 SAFe planning

How do you adapt your organization’s culture so it’s more responsive to customer needs and can compete with emerging alternatives without disrupting what’s working or adding unnecessary layers of complexity—all while undergoing a major paradigm-shifting merger? This was the challenge facing Latin America’s largest stock exchange, B3 S/A Brasil Bolsa Balcao (B3), back in 2019.

Recently, Marcio Tambelini, SPC and Lean Agile Transformation Coordinator at B3, sat down with us at the 2023 SAFe® Summit Nashville to discuss his organization’s journey with SAFe over the past few years. He talked candidly about the challenges that led to B3 considering Agile methodologies, what motivated them to adopt the Scaled Agile Framework®, and their results. 

  • Challenges
  • Process
  • Results
Leaders at B3 gather in person
Leaders at B3 gather in person to prioritize and align work for the PI as part of the Brazilian company’s multi-year SAFe initiative.

B3 Challenges

Every organization has its own operating culture and norms. In the case of a merger, the challenge becomes combining those norms and establishing a new, unified way of working. 

This was the situation facing B3 in 2019. At that point, B3 was two years into a merger that had ushered in a new era of its history. BM&FBOVESPA, a leading regional exchange, had joined forces with CETIP, a merger securities clearinghouse, creating B3. The combination positioned B3 as a key player in Latin America’s financial landscape. But it also created a need for shared values and common goals. 

“We had a distance between these areas, and every area had different problems,” said Tambelini.

A growing number of competitors were also emerging in the Brazilian market, putting additional pressure on B3 to deliver new features, capture new markets, and respond to challenges faster and more predictably. 

When leaders started exploring options for improving their culture, they were drawn to Agile for its focus on speed and collaboration. They were also interested in SAFe to provide the necessary training for scaling Agile practices.

“We decided that Agile would bring us common objectives and common challenges,” said Tambelini. “This was very important for us because each area had personal problems and personal challenges. So we decided to work together, and Agile methodology was the best way to resolve this problem for us.”

Leaders at B3 prioritize and align work for the PI
Leaders at B3 gather in person to prioritize and align work for the PI as part of the Brazilian company’s multi-year SAFe initiative.

B3 Process

B3 started small with one Portfolio, using SAFe to guide the adoption of Agile principles at scale. In 2021, after proving the value of the Agile approach, they decided to upgrade to a SAFe Enterprise subscription. This would allow them to make training and resources available to the entire organization and better align the Agile adoption of separate teams. 

By 2023, Agile practices had spread throughout B3. They had formed 32 value streams, with 121 Agile teams and more than 1,400 people working in those value streams. They had also begun expanding Agile values beyond development teams and into the operations side of the business.

“At B3, we’re working toward business agility, not just Agile … there are many initiatives in other areas like Human Resources, infrastructure, finance, and others,” said Tambelini.

He said the creation of value streams was particularly important to leaders because before, the various parts of B3 had functioned with different challenges and objectives, making it hard to track progress and align efforts. Value streams enabled them to see how each part of the organization played a critical role in delivering a product or service to the market.

Another way B3 brought teams together was by adopting shared metrics like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). They also shifted their mindset from “projects” to “products” to help teams better visualize the customer and focus on the end value delivered. 

“This has given us the opportunity to enhance our customer-centric approach, delivering products and services that align more closely with their needs,” said Tambelini.

Leaders at B3 formulate the Brazilian company's multi-year SAFe initiative.
Leaders at B3 gather in person to prioritize and align work for the PI as part of the Brazilian company’s multi-year SAFe initiative.

B3 Results

Tambelini said the results have been overwhelmingly positive, helping to secure B3’s position as the leading stock exchange in Latin America. 

“All the portfolios that we started in the last two or three years had many kinds of good results, especially when we’re talking about the clients,” he said. 

One of the biggest benefits has been the ability to deliver value to clients in a much shorter time cycle. Before, delivering a new product or feature could take up to a year. Now, B3 developers can roll out new features for clients throughout the year, much faster than was previously possible.

Within B3’s largest portfolio, which represented 70 percent of their revenue, the challenge had become managing layers of complexity among clients, markets, and regulators. So before proposing any drastic changes, leaders started by mapping out the interdependencies among platforms and teams. 

Their initial priority with this portfolio was to bring alignment and transparency to the work. They chose to adopt Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) because they believed that starting at the top and focusing on the financial aspect among leaders and stakeholders would bring much-needed clarity and direction to the rest of the process.

“Our understanding grew, and we identified points of contact and bottlenecks,” said Tambelini. “We proposed value streams that could bring productivity gains and increase deliveries to the clients.”

Instead of budgeting for projects, they began budgeting for products, enabling B3 to increase speed and become more responsive as an organization.

“This action has been instrumental in our evolution, leading to significant gains with both customers and regulators,” he said. “We’re able to respond to new challenges, become more efficient, increase customer experience, and capture new markets.”

Juan Saldivar, Latin America business development director at Scaled Agile, Inc., said B3’s journey is one of many inspiring examples of how SAFe is helping businesses in the LATAM region transform, compete, and become more customer-centric.

“On the development side, they’ve seen shorter cycles, and, in one product release that I know of, they were able to get ten times the expected number of customers,” said Saldivar. “I think they realized the power of SAFe when building new solutions and new products and getting an attractive solution to market.”

B3 Conclusion

B3’s adoption of SAFe has proven highly successful, enabling leaders to overcome merger challenges and dynamic market pressures and begin to operate as one organization. Starting with one portfolio in 2019 and then expanding in the following years, they’ve been able to reduce delivery times and increase the value created. Their story proves the importance of approaching change intentionally, holistically, and with the customer at the center. 

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Check out these additional resources to learn more:

Petrobras Boosts Sustainability and Savings with SAFe

Based in Brazil, Petrobras is one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas companies, engaging in the exploration, capture, production, refining, and transport of energy products. Their operations span everything from reserves and wells to subsea engineering, production logistics, refining, commercialization, and related services.

Petrobras is best known as a leader in deep water and ultra-deep water exploration. The company has made it a priority to operate at low cost with a low carbon footprint and a commitment to sustainable development.

Quick Facts:

  • 45,000+ employees
  • Launched its first ART in 2021
  • Two years after bringing in SAFe, Petrobras has grown to 23 ARTs and 250+ teams, encompassing 2,700 people across a US$1 billion portfolio of applications.

Key Outcomes:

  • In 2022, Petrobras said it gained US$300 million in “economic value added” through digital implementations and cost savings, and they project to have $700 million in economic value-add in 2023.
  • Digital transformations in refinery operations allowed Petrobras to increase carbon capture, reduce emissions, and improve workers’s safety.
  • Petrobras’s transformation was the largest-scale Agile transformation in Brazil during its first year.

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March Launch

March 2023 Launch

We’re unveiling the latest evolution of SAFe® in March. New updates will deepen SAFe’s impact and help reshape the way you approach transformation.

When:

March 15, 2023, 12:00 pm – March 15, 2023, 1:00 pm MST

Where:

Remote

Who:

Agile Coach, Consultant, Product Manager, Product Owner, Release Train Engineer, SAFe Program Consultant, Scrum Master

Register now

Event Overview

Join our virtual event on Wednesday, March 15, at 12:00 PM MDT/6:00 PM GMT to see the full launch and learn what it means for your organization. Sign up to receive a reminder one hour before the event to ensure you don’t miss it.

TV Globo – Adopting SAFe for Enterprise Agility Transformation

How Enterprise Agility Is Transforming the Largest Media Company in Latin America

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TV Globo is Brazil’s largest TV network serving 100 million viewers in 130 countries.

Like many other media companies, Globo needed to accelerate its digital transformation journey. Their waterfall project approach did not support the speed that was needed to meet this challenge. They needed an Agile approach! But how do you implement Agile in a highly complex environment with hundreds of legacy solutions and a silo-based culture?

Both culture and technology had to be transformed. After some small Agile initiatives, TV Globo decided to adopt SAFe. They started bottom-up. The IT Director sponsored their first implementation of SAFe in two main business areas: Commercial and Content Production. The results after the first year of SAFe implementation were impressive. Leaving behind their “who is right” or “who is guilty” approach, business and technology areas were able to work more closely with a value-driven approach. The empowerment and engagement that resulted from aligning business and tech around the same purpose and company priorities resulted in significant improvements:

  • 20% cost reduction
  • 24% improvement in employee engagement
  • 86% improvement in customer satisfaction

Inspired by these early results, Globo expanded its practice of SAFe. New Value Streams were implemented in other areas, this time sponsored by the C-level, and Globo is designing its roadmap to expand the implementation throughout the company. It has been an exciting, challenging, and rewarding journey so far!

Presented at the 2021 Global SAFe Summit, October 2021 by:

  • Luciana Povoa, Head of Content Production Solutions /Globo

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TV Globo – Accelerating Digital Transformation Using SAFe

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To accelerate their digital transformation and remain competitive in a fast-changing market, Brazil’s largest TV network turned to SAFe. With 12,000 employees serving 100 million viewers in 130 countries, the media giant offers a full lineup of content: news, sports, entertainment, soap operas, reality shows, and more.

As they worked to overcome a complex software legacy, speed up innovation, and create new ways of working, the challenge has been enormous, but the effort has paid off. Today, TV Globo has established a common way of working for the business and technology areas that embraces a value-driven approach and empowers and engages teams around a common purpose. This has enabled the organization to integrate a portfolio view into decisions for evaluating competing initiatives and aligning them with enterprise priorities.

The results have been dramatic:

  • 20% cost reduction
  • 24% improvement in employee engagement
  • 86% improvement in customer satisfaction

View the video for the full story and see how deeply engaged TV Globo’s employees are in this company-wide transformation using SAFe. It is narrated in Portuguese with English translations.

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