Executive panel at the October 2024 Project to Product Summit in New York City
Oct 2024 Project to Product Summit — Executive Experience NYC — Exec panel w/ Q&A: Dr. Mik Kersten (Moderator), Keith Buehlman (Launch NTT Data), Sejal Amin (CTO Shutterstock), Laura Barnard (PMO and Author), Mike Carr (CTO Vanguard), Phil Clark (VP Technology)

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Isaac Newton

The best insights come from sharing experiences

Like many, my career has been both challenging and incredibly fulfilling. I’ve been fortunate to contribute through two major waves of technical change, and I enjoy drawing on 25 years in software engineering, leadership, and digital transformation to share what I’ve learned. That’s why I’m devoted to spreading this message through Rethinking Your Understanding.

Today, I’m energized by the challenges facing modern engineering organizations and the broader technical community. I’m committed to giving back by volunteering my time and expertise, making a positive impact, and continuing to learn and grow along the way.

Phil Clark with Gene Kim (left) and Steve Yegge (right) at ETLS 2025
September 2025 ETLS — Gene Kim (left) and Steve Yegge (right), “Vibe Coding” book release
Phil Clark with Nathan Harvey of DORA and Laura Tacho, CTO of DX, at a 2024 industry event
2024 — Nathan Harvey (DORA), Laura Tacho (CTO DX)
Collage from the March 2025 Flow Engineering Retreat in Telchac, Mexico
March 2025 Flow Engineering Retreat — Steve Pereira, Mark Hornbeek, Miguel Dias, Cesar Arce, Robb Keayes
Phil Clark with Dominica DeGrandis, Dr. Ron Westrum, Jonathan Smart, Simon Rohrer, and Gene Kim at DevOps Enterprise Summit 2022
2022 DevOps Enterprise Summit — Dominica DeGrandis, Dr. Ron Westrum, Jonathan Smart, Simon Rohrer, and Gene Kim

“There are books that change your life in a sentence and people that change your life in an instant. Both books and people have the power to transform you. That’s why it’s important to know what to read and who to surround yourself with.”

Alberto Garcia

How I engage

Here are a few examples of the ways that I enjoy engaging with you, your organization, or team.

Speaking engagements

Corporate presentations and industry conference talks on engineering transformation, value stream management, flow, and leadership.

Panels

Technology and leadership panel discussions, sharing practical experience from scaling engineering teams and transforming delivery.

Roundtable discussions

Senior leadership roundtables on digital transformation, team design, M&A integration, metrics, culture, and change management.

Consulting conversations

Digital transformation consulting: connecting software engineering to business outcomes, architecture and team design, optimizing delivery efficiency, value stream management, and technology leadership.

Coffee calls

Informal conversations to bounce ideas off each other, explore industry trends, and share experiences. Some of the best learning happens over a simple call.

Mentoring

Developing first-time engineering managers. The shift to management is a career change, not just a progression — it requires a new mindset, different skills, and a passion for investing in your team.

“Leadership behaviour will make it or break it.”

Jonathan Smart

Industry conversations and collaboration

Since 2021, I have appreciated the opportunity to discuss my and other organizations’ leaders’ digital experiences, transformations, contexts, challenges, and practices. Some of these talks, presentations, and discussions include:

2026
The Flow Sessions - Profit by Design: Connecting Flow and Profitable Engineering, hosted by Helen Beal with Phil Clark, October 21, 2026

Flow Session: Profit by Design – connecting flow and Profitable Engineering

October 2026. A fast-paced, 30-minute interactive Flow Session with host Helen Beal on transforming technology teams from cost centers into strategic business drivers. The conversation unpacks how to balance flow with value realization – why moving work faster isn’t enough unless it creates tangible business results – and how to integrate AI into software delivery thoughtfully so it enhances genuine outcomes rather than just producing low-value code faster, with a live Q&A on connecting engineering investments directly to measurable profit and value.

Phil Clark interviewed on TechstrongTV: Flow Is Necessary, But Not Sufficient (2026)

TechstrongTV interview: Flow Is Necessary, But Not Sufficient

Interview with Alan Shimel previewing the Flowtopia 2026 talk – on why flow alone is necessary but not sufficient, and why leadership maturity determines whether flow and value realization survive.

Phil Clark speaking at Flowtopia 2026 conference

Industry speaker: Flowtopia 2026

Virtual conference presentation: Flow Is Necessary, Not Sufficient: Why Leadership Maturity Determines Whether Flow + Realization Survive.

Live panel discussion: Product and Engineering - Who's Leading Who?, hosted by Helen Beal

Live panel: product and engineering – who’s leading who?

Part of the Flowtopia 2026 event. Live panel hosted by Helen Beal exploring the shifting power dynamics of the modern delivery team – whether a leader-follower model still serves high-performing organizations or if the future lies in a unified, two-in-a-box leadership approach.

Harvard Business Review briefing paper on connecting data for real-time insights

Quoted contributor – Harvard Business Review

HBR Analytic Services briefing paper (sponsored by Broadcom): Connecting the Data That Powers Real-Time, Value-Generating Insights. Shared perspectives on shifting from time-boxed project funding to funding products and long-lived teams, and on applying value stream mapping and outcome mapping to align investments to strategy.

2025
Siemens Germany workshop on transforming measurement culture

Siemens Germany workshop

Co-hosted and co-facilitated Siemens Germany’s Transforming Measurement Culture: From Metrics to Meaning workshop with Steve Pereira, helping leaders shift from metric theater to meaningful measurement tied to outcomes, flow, and actionable improvement.

2025 Executive Accelerator cohort discussion

2025 Executive Accelerator cohort

Hosted an interactive AMA with the Future of Tech Leadership cohort focused on what changes as leaders move from senior engineering roles into director/VP scope: executive communication, influence, decision-making, budgeting, and building an executive brand.

VSM Implementation Roadmap Workshop Series: Mapping

VSM workshop series: mapping

Panel member – Value Stream Mapping and nVeris implementation roadmap workshop.

VSM Implementation Roadmap Workshop Series: Vision

VSM workshop series: vision

Panel member – Creating a Value Stream Vision implementation roadmap workshop.

Flow Engineering Retreat in Telchac, Yucatán, Mexico

Flow Engineering Retreat

Hosted by Steve Pereira and Visible.is (Telchac, Yucatán, Mexico). An exclusive three-day event for leaders looking to master Flow Engineering through open sessions, case studies, and hands-on workshops focused on improving performance and building sustainable, high-performing systems.

AI copilot early adoption program

Collaborating with a leading Value Stream Management product team and other enterprise experts to explore Generative AI use cases. Biweekly discussions focused on how AI, automation, and decision-support tools can enhance efficiency, improve value stream visibility, and deliver data-driven insights for technology and business leaders.

2024
Phil Clark speaking at Flowtopia 2024 conference

Industry speaker: Flowtopia 2024

Virtual conference presentation: Lessons Learned Adopting Value Stream Management.

2024 Project to Product Summit Executive Experience panel

2024 Project to Product Summit

Executive Experience panel in NYC with Mik Kersten, Keith Buehlman, Sejal Amin, Laura Barnard, and Mike Carr. Moving to a product operational model – experiences and Q&A session.

Value Stream Management Consortium Office Hours

VSMC office hours

Reference panelist for monthly sessions connecting industry experts.

Panel discussion on connecting product management and software engineering

Connecting product and engineering

Day-to-Day DevOps panel with Helen Beal and guest experts on connecting product management and software engineering.

Phil Clark at Planview Global Accelerate Conference 2024

Planview Global Accelerate 2024

Interview session: Parchment: Getting Started with Planview Copilot – Set Your AI Journey Up For Success.

Flow Engineering book case study quote from Phil Clark at Parchment

Flow Engineering case study

Published May 2024: Evolving Measurement from Individual Metrics to Team-Level Metrics at Parchment, Chapter 13 of Flow Engineering by Steve Pereira and Andrew Davis (IT Revolution Press).

2023
Planview case study: Parchment rethinking metrics

Planview case study

Parchment – Rethinking Metrics: A Journey from Legacy Measures to Team Success.

VSM Consortium case study: Parchment inspecting value streams

VSMC case study

Parchment – Inspecting Value Streams. Featured as a Flowtopia 2023 VSM story.

Phil Clark at Flowtopia 2023 conference in Las Vegas

Flowtopia 2023 – live in Las Vegas

In-person conference at the Aria Resort and Casino. INSPECT session with Broadcom’s Lance Knight on value stream management.

Phil Clark speaking at Planview Accelerate 2023

Planview Accelerate 2023

Virtual conference: Parchment – Rethinking Metrics: A Journey from Legacy Measures to Team Success.

Leadership roundtables

  • Replacing agile leadership with combined technical roles and exploring AI in leadership
  • Project to product transformation strategies
  • M&A strategies and SOPs: system integration, data management, standardizing process, PE firm profitability expectations, and AI adoption
2022
DORA and customer experience metrics visualization

Roundtable highlights

  • Competition for talent: Skill set mismatch, burnout, driving and managing change
  • Team Topologies: Value streams, team structures, cognitive load, metrics, and platform teams
  • Cynefin framework: Closed roundtable with Dave Snowden
  • Metrics that matter: ROI, cost of IT services, business value, uptime, user experience, and aligning IT metrics to executive leadership
  • Gene Kim: Top takeaways from the 2022 DevOps EU Summit and open discussion forum
2021
DevOps Enterprise Summit highlights collage

Where it all began

  • CEO conference panel: How leadership impacts transformation success
  • Transformation leader of the year: Quarterly collaboration with Arizona business leaders
  • Digital transformation: objectives, measurable benefits, timelines, and communication
  • Change fatigue, measuring value, and Scaled Agile with Dean Leffingwell
  • Roundtables with Gene Kim on DevOps Enterprise Summit themes
  • OKRs and accelerating the flow of business value
  • Technical debt – estimated to cost companies up to $85 billion annually
  • Value Stream Management and Flow Metrics with Tasktop Viz

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We all come from different experiences. The best insights happen when we share them.

Let’s talk