Release Train Engineer Handbook

Glenn Smith is a seasoned business agility consultant and trainer with over 25 years of experience helping organizations bring better products to market faster. As a certified SAFe® Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT), one of only a select few globally to achieve this certification, Glenn has guided numerous enterprise-scale organizations through successful transformations, regularly achieving dramatic improvements, including 50% gains in delivery predictability and 80% reductions in time-to-market. His journey from software engineer at Motorola through to founding Nimbility has given him deep practical experience across all levels of organizational change, from team-level agility to enterprise-wide business transformation.Drawing on his extensive experience working with clients in defense, finance, education, and technology sectors, Glenn offers a notably pragmatic approach to organizational change. His unique perspective—that of a practitioner who has navigated these challenges firsthand—combined with his talent for making complexity feel simple and approachable, sets him apart in the field. His philosophy centers on avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions, instead crafting tailored approaches that address each organization's specific challenges while empowering leaders with the skills, tools, and processes they need for sustainable success. Tim Jackson is an experienced SAFe® Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT) with over 20 years of hands-on experience in Agile delivery, leadership development, and large-scale transformation. He began his career as a developer and tester in small start-ups before transitioning to consultancy in boutique consultancies and global agencies.His passion for Product Management emerged while serving as director for mobile health at a medical device company. Tim has channeled his customer-centric approach into leading Agile transformations across complex, highly regulated industries, including pharmaceuticals and aviation.Today, Tim helps people and organizations achieve their goals through consulting, coaching, and training. He is a certified Executive Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), and he blends these disciplines to support leaders and teams in building resilience, alignment, and sustainable high performance.Whether guiding leadership teams through Lean Portfolio Management, coaching executives to unlock their potential, or training the next generation of Agile change agents, Tim's focus remains constant: enabling people to thrive and organizations to deliver lasting value at scale. Gez Smith began his Lean-Agile journey 20 years ago, using The Toyota Way and Scrum to grow a start-up from a bedroom company to working with 10 Downing Street and The White House. Along the way, he became a Product Owner, which was his first insight into how little he knew. A feeling that has only grown the more he has learned. Years later, he moved into financial services, including a spell as Global Head of Agile at HSBC, where he first used SAFe® to help thousands of people around the world get more value delivered more easily. Along the way, he picked up two master's degrees and also became a SAFe® Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT) and a SAFe Fellow. Outside of the day job, he enjoys blogging, podcasting, and writing, having previously written books on digital engagement, Agile marketing, and Agile HR. He is a regular speaker at conferences, events, and meetups around the world. In short, he likes having ideas and sharing them with other people to see whether they find them useful too, which is why he contributed to this book.

• Table of ContentsIntroducing the RTE RoleYour Initial Journey to Become an RTEInteracting Within the Scaled Agile Framework® as an RTEUnderstanding the RTE's Role in Launching an Agile Release TrainPre-PI Planning: Creating and Understanding the BacklogEvent Logistics for PI PlanningPI Planning: Day 1PI Planning: Day 2Executing the PICoaching ART ImprovementsWorking with a Solution TrainConnecting the RTE to the PortfolioAppendix A: Preparing for the SAFe® RTE ExamAppendix B: Building Confidence in PI Planning