Really? We're still context-switching between tools to prep for Agile Ceremonies?

Being a BA in agile software development means constant context switching.

We juggle JIRA, Asana, Slack, Teams, Calendars and more to support delivery outcomes. Developers have GitHub Copilot as their intelligent companion—but what is there for BAs?

The Hidden Time Drain

Consider the five principal Agile ceremonies: Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews, Backlog Refinement, and Retrospectives.

Add up manual prep time across all ceremonies for a 2 week sprint.

So, 11 hours per 2 week sprint.

Let's say 44 work weeks per year (22 sprints), an 8 hour day. That could be 30 days+ saved per function per project.

Most business and design functions (BA’s, PgM's, PM’s, UX), work on two or more projects. There’s 10 - 12 (multi-functional) team members on an average software project…substantial cost and time savings!

A Solution is Possible

But this isn't just about costs and time saved—it's about using that time more effectively.

In today's landscape of AI agents, Gen AI, MCP, Cloud, an AI BA Buddy is not just possible—it's inevitable. I've been exploring what a "Master of Ceremonies" platform might look like:

Intelligent Dashboard - A unified view that gives you sprint progress, today's agenda, recent activity, and team status at a glance.

Zero Context Switching - Connect all your existing tools—Slack, JIRA, Asana, Teams, Linear, Google Workspace. The platform pulls ceremony-relevant data from everywhere you already work. Additionally plugin other agents or external data sources / databases.

Smart Synthesis - AI agents that automatically transform JIRA updates into stand-up talking points. "What I Did Yesterday," "What I'll Do Today," and "Blockers & Concerns" are pre-populated and intelligently prioritised.

Contextual Intelligence - The system learns your work preferences, team dynamics, and project context to provide increasingly relevant ceremony preparation.

Addressing the Obvious Questions

1."Won't Atlassian build this?" - They might. They may already be building it.

But there’s the opportunity here to develop specifically for your business, processes, tools and platforms.

2."Isn't this just more overhead?" - Yes. But how much more time and costs are saved by intelligent preparation?

Additionally, this approach applies beyond BAs—most delivery, design, and technical roles face the same ceremony preparation challenges.

In Summary

This post isn't about replacing Agile or existing tools. Instead, we're intelligently augmenting existing and new tools. In a world where AI agents handle complex workflows, we really shouldn’t be preparing manually for any of these ceremonies.

Time to Act

If this resonates with you, let's change it.

What would your ideal AI-powered Master of Ceremonies assistant look like?

Drop your thoughts below—the best ideas might just become features.