Manoj is passionate about making the workplace better by fostering self-organized, autonomous, goal-oriented teams. He helps organizations become more effective by bringing team members together to form high-performing, cohesive units that deliver value to the customer.

Manoj Vadakkan

Manoj Vadakkan is a seasoned management consultant specializing in enhancing team and organizational performance. He began his career as a software developer, holding a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Master's degree in Computer Applications. Over the years, his focus has shifted towards team leadership and organizational management, establishing himself as an expert in coaching both teams and entire organizations to achieve outstanding results.
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Manoj stands at the forefront of Agile and AI innovation. He helps his clients enhance product development with AI technologies and machine learning, driving transformative solutions.

Agile Philosophy: Advocates the philosophy of "turn on a dime for a dime," helping organizations and teams quickly adapt to changes and continuously improve their processes.  (Credit: Craig Larman)

See our CSM® CLASSES AI + Agile CLASSES

Education
Master's Degree in Computer Applications
(with project work in AI and NLP (Natural Language Processing)
Mysore University, 1993
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Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics
Mahatma Gandhi University, 1989. 
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AI
Machine Learning: 2024
Certificate Program AI Product management/Managing ML Projects  From Duke University/Coursera. 
Course Certificate on Machine Learning by Stanford University & DeepLearning.AI
Creator of BRIDGE: 1993
​A Natural Language Interface Designer that can create a Natural Language Interpreter. 

Patent/Invention - United States Patent 
Auditing of charges in an integrated pre-validation and ordering system
US 6665391 · Issued Dec 16, 2003
See Patent here

Certifications

• Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST®) from Scrum Alliance​
• Certified LeSS Practitioner (CLP) (Large Scale Scrum)
• Certified Scrum Professional® - ScrumMaster
• Certified Scrum Product Owner®
• Project Management Professional (PMP®)

AI Experiments

Stevie Scrum:
AI Scrum Consultant. Created using a OpenAI with RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). Sign up to use it for free. I would love to hear your feedback.  We use curated content to guide you and answer your questions. Are you a practitioner? Would you like us to share your content? You will be benefited too. Please reach out to me to learn more.

Stevie Medical: 
Experimental AI Medical Consultant that can work as an assistant for an Intake Nurse Technician to help context driven questions to understand relevant symptoms and help a Physician diagnose. Reach out to me if you would like to see my experiment. This is not available for public use for obvious reasons. 

Open to new assignments. Schedule a meeting

Experience

Project/Program Management

Project Management Professional (PMP®) Earned in 2002

Over 20 Years of IT Project and Program Management: Successfully managed software development projects with team sizes ranging from 10 to hundreds of members and multi-million-dollar budgets across various industries.

Diverse Industry Experience: Led projects in federal government, telecommunications, insurance, banking, and media, adapting to diverse industry requirements and best practices.

Large-Scale and Complex Software Development: Directed high-impact, high-budget projects involving intricate system integrations and advanced technologies, ensuring seamless functionality and high performance.

International Coordination: Led global projects, managing international teams to deliver robust software solutions.

Skilled in stakeholder management, ensuring clear communication and alignment of project goals.

Proficient in risk management: Help identifying potential issues early and developing mitigation strategies.

Agile Consultant/ScrumMaster

Extensive Agile and Scrum Expertise: Over 20 years of experience practicing and teaching Agile principles and Scrum framework, driving successful transformations in various organizations.

Certified Agile Trainer: Achieved the prestigious Certified Scrum Trainer  (CST) over 10 years ago, a certification from Scrum Alliance, recognized internationally and held by only a few hundred practitioners worldwide. Demonstrated exceptional Scrum knowledge and training skills, contributing to the global advancement of Scrum and Agile practices.

Agile Transformation Leadership: Successfully introduced Agile/Scrum practices to teams and large organizations, significantly improving team efficiency, collaboration, and project outcomes.

Expert Facilitator and Coach: Skilled in facilitating key Agile ceremonies and providing guidance for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and teams, enhancing their Agile maturity and project outcomes.

AI

​AI Certifications: Completed the Machine Learning course by Stanford University and DeepLearning.AI.

AI Techniques in Agile Product Development: Developed innovative AI techniques for Agile product development, integrating AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance ideation, backlog refinement, and acceptance criteria formulation. These techniques were pioneered and are offered through conference presentations and training workshops, empowering teams to effectively apply AI in various stages of Agile processes.
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AI Innovations and Projects: Developed BRIDGE, an early Natural Language Interface Designer, in 1993. Created AI applications Stevie Scrum and Stevie Medical using OpenAI's latest LLM innovations. Actively integrates AI to enhance product development and organizational efficiency.

Community Involvement: Co-host of the AI Special Interest Group (SIG) for Agile Denver and host of The AI Product Development Network.

Certifications

Conferences

Past Conferences

AgileDC: Founder (2010) and Organizer of the conference.
MileHigh Agile:  2015, 2016, 2017, 2018: Organizer of Coaches Clinic at the conference.
Scrum Gatherings: Reviewer for conference proposals and presented sessions at
o   2016: India & Orlando
o   2014: India
o   2011: Seattle & South Africa
o   2010: Amsterdam
Agile20xx: Presented sessions at
o   2016: Atlanta
o   2013: Nashville.
PMI Summits:
​o   2014: Project Zone Congress , Frankfurt, Germany
o   2013: PMI WDC Symposium, Washington DC
o   2013 & 2012: PMI Netherlands Summit, Netherlands
o   2010, 2011, 2012: MN Government IT Symposium.

This year (2024)

May: MileHigh Agile Conference - Harnessing LLMs for Enhanced Agile Practices​
Sep: Scrum Gathering™️ Stockholm 2024 - Integrating AI in Product Development
Sep: AgileDC – Founder, Organizer.

Community Engagement 

Co Founder, Board Member, Organizer of AgileDC. 
Founded in 2010. The largest yearly community organized event in the Washington DC area for Agile practitioners to come together and learn from each other. All the proceeds from the events are donated to charties selectedby the volunteers. 

MileHigh Agile (Denver).
Organizer of Coaches Clinic at the conferences for several years. Volunteer and presenter at several years. 

Co-Host of AI SIG of Agile Denver:
Co host of the Special Interest Group (SIG) for AI of Agile Denver. Find our AI SIG events listed at Agile Denver Meetup 
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Host of The AI Product Development Network:
Join us for one of the meetups

From left to right - Manoj, Steven (developers), Deepa (Product Owner) & Aaron (Scrum Master) Family Photo from 2018.

Manoj has been living in Colorado since early 90's. He  can be spotted at many AgileDenver events and AI events in Colorado.

​Between 2009 and 2014, he lived in the Washington DC Metro and engaged in the local agile community. He also co-founded Agile DC, the premier DC-area Agile conference, a yearly conference attended by 500+ people. ​

Manoj is a Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST®) and a Certified LeSS Practitioner. He has been working with clients large and small for nearly 30 years. His work experience includes various industries such as Telecommunications, Insurance, Bank, and Media. In addition, he has worked with various government agencies including The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Census Bureau, The US Navy, The Veterans Affairs, and The US Postal Services. ​

Schedule a call with Manoj

Passion.  Experience.  Diligence.

About Northern Star Consulting

After two decades of working in the corporate world, Manoj set out to start a consulting practice of his own seeking independence to practice what he truly believed in.  
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Northern Star Consulting, LLC opened its doors in 2003. Since then, we have helped organizations large and small, from Federal Government agencies and Military to Start-up. Manoj brings an exceptional level of enthusiasm, dedication, and nuanced perspective that makes their firm the holistic solution for any clients.

In addition to helping software teams in various product and services companies (Insurance, Media, Banks). we also have experience in consulting and training with professionals from organizations such as schools, training curriculum development, hospitals. 

Join our ranks of satisfied students today!