Kessel Run: A Digital Transformation Story Within The World's Largest Bureaucracy
at UXDX USA 2026
Type
talk
Few organisations struggle more than a large government body to become agile and ship software quickly. Adam Furtado recounts how Kessel Run cut delivery from years to about four months (around 124 days), covering waterfall constraints, resistance to change, structure and approach, and lessons from building modern product practice inside the US Air Force.
People
Adam Furtado
Methods
PrototypingBuilding disposable stand-ins for a product — from paper and clickable wireframes to coded spikes — so teams can try interactions before committing to build. Used to explore options, align stakeholders, and run usability tests on something people can click or walk through. Fidelity should match the question: low for flow and structure, higher when timing, motion or real content matter.
RoadmappingRoadmapping helps a team agree which problems to address and how work should progress over time. Start with the intended outcomes and the scope of the team’s responsibility, then organise initiatives into themes and broad time horizons. Discuss priorities with the people who will deliver or depend on the work. Maintain the roadmap as evidence and circumstances change. Use it to communicate direction and trade-offs, rather than treating every item as a fixed delivery promise.