Faraz Uddin

Product Owner

Roadmap and Backlog Ownership: Led the roadmap and backlog for the GFD (Global Fraud Director) Orchestration App, integrating enterprise payment flows with PFD (Payment Fraud Detection), a SAS vendor system.
Fraud Mitigation Solutions: Delivered high-impact fraud mitigation solutions within a SAFe Agile Release Train (ART), coordinating across multiple Agile teams to protect enterprise payment systems.

Strategic Contributions

Agile Transformation: Transitioning from Kanban to Scrum at Bank of America

While supporting a key fraud detection platform at Bank of America, I led the successful onboarding and Agile transformation of a newly formed cross-functional team. Using the STAR Method, the following outlines the real-world steps taken to establish a high-performing Scrum team.

Situation: A brand-new team was assembled to support an enterprise fraud detection system. The team had limited Agile experience and was initially operating in a loose Kanban style without consistent ceremonies or delivery cadence.
Task: Transition the team to a structured Scrum framework, fully onboard all members, and build Agile capabilities that aligned with delivery targets and Bank of America’s enterprise standards.
Action:
- Orchestrated onboarding activities including access setup, application walkthroughs, and cross-team knowledge transfers to reduce ramp-up time.
- Facilitated Agile training to help the team shift from Kanban to Scrum, introducing ceremonies like Sprint Planning, Reviews, Retrospectives, and Standups.
- Set up structured backlog grooming with Product Owners and stakeholders to improve story quality and sprint readiness.
- Created centralized Confluence documentation to preserve tribal knowledge and improve cross-functional onboarding and self-service capabilities.
- Coordinated across global teams to mitigate timezone challenges and align on interdependent deliverables through regular Scrum-of-Scrums.
Result: Accelerated team ramp-up by 40%, improved sprint velocity by 25% over three iterations, and established a sustainable Scrum practice that met enterprise fraud detection objectives on time.

Backlog Optimization: Streamlining the Product Backlog for Improved Agile Delivery

To enhance the efficiency and focus of the Agile delivery team supporting critical fraud detection initiatives, I led a backlog optimization effort that streamlined and prioritized work items for maximum impact, while establishing regular cadences to improve triage of production incidents and cybersecurity compliance updates.

Situation: The product backlog had grown unwieldy over time, containing outdated and irrelevant user stories, causing confusion and inefficiency during sprint planning and execution.
Task: Conduct a thorough audit of the backlog to remove stale items, re-prioritize remaining stories, align the backlog with current business objectives and team capacity, and establish effective triage cadences.
Action:
- Collaborated with Product Owners, Business Analysts, and stakeholders to review and validate backlog items for relevance and priority.
- Removed over 50% of outdated or low-value stories, consolidating duplicates and clarifying acceptance criteria for remaining items.
- Reorganized the backlog into prioritized themes to ensure alignment with strategic goals and upcoming sprint objectives.
- Facilitated backlog grooming sessions with the team to ensure stories were ready for development and properly sized.
- Established regular triage cadences to efficiently address production known incidents and cybersecurity compliance updates, improving response time and team coordination.
Result: Reduced backlog volume by over 50%, significantly improved sprint planning efficiency and team focus, and enhanced incident triage and compliance update processes, resulting in clearer priorities and smoother delivery cadence.

Key Accomplishments

Cross-functional Collaboration: Ensured all initiatives and Business as Usual (BAU) epics were refined and groomed for each Program Increment (PI). Worked closely with product managers, change coordinators, and other key stakeholders to align priorities and drive successful outcomes.
Backlog Hygiene: Conducted a comprehensive audit of the product backlog, removing outdated or irrelevant stories and aligning remaining items with current priorities. Reduced backlog volume by over 50%, improving clarity, team focus, and sprint planning efficiency.
Product Owner and Scrum Master Dual Role: Took on dual responsibilities as both Product Owner and interim Scrum Master, helping guide the team until a permanent Scrum Master was hired.
Agile Transformation and Onboarding: The team initially operated using Kanban as new resources were onboarded. I facilitated comprehensive Knowledge Transfer (KT) sessions to ensure all QA and development team members were equipped to contribute effectively, accelerating ramp-up time and enhancing productivity. This foundation helped us transition smoothly to Scrum, adopting two-week sprint cycles to further improve delivery and collaboration.

Key Differences at Bank of America

Regulatory Rigor: Bank of America operated under strict regulatory and audit protocols. Every epic and user story required complete descriptions, design details, and comprehensive acceptance criteria. This rigor ensured regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.
Agile Discipline: Unlike other firms I’ve worked at, where Agile was often loosely applied, Bank of America enforced a consistently structured Agile process across teams, with clearly defined expectations and standards. This discipline supported regulatory compliance and reduced operational risk. While the rigor presented challenges, the team successfully maintained agility within a tightly governed framework.
Coaching Support: Dedicated Agile Coaches were available to support both Product Owners and Scrum Masters, helping ensure best practices and continuous improvement.
Comprehensive Documentation: Internal documentation was robust and well-organized, with Confluence wiki pages providing a centralized source of truth for product and process knowledge.
Acronym Clarity: All acronyms were required to be spelled out for clarity and compliance—for example, even simple and common acronyms like "UI" had to be defined as "User Interface." Most smaller to mid-size firms did not require this level of documentation.

Key Challenges

Limited Initial Subject Matter Expert (SME) Coverage: The team began with only one technical lead acting as the Subject Matter Expert for GFD and another SME overseeing PFD, all while managing multiple Component Agile Release Streams (CARs).
Time Zone Coordination: Collaborated with cross-functional teams across the US, Europe, and India, which presented scheduling and communication challenges.
Complex Team Dependencies: Navigated dependencies involving multiple internal teams and business units throughout the firm.
Onboarding New Resources: Led and facilitated knowledge transfer (KT) sessions to ramp up newly onboarded developers and analysts quickly.
Dual Responsibilities: Balanced responsibilities as both Product Owner and interim Scrum Master until a dedicated SM was hired.
Hands-On Testing Responsibilities: Product Owners were expected to assist with QA and UAT testing by executing SQL queries using tools like Toad and Oracle Database, and by validating API behavior using Postman.