Mike Cohn

Mike Cohn is an internationally recognized expert on agile software development, the author of the best-selling book Agile Estimating and Planning, and a leading authority on Scrum and agile engineering practices. He is a co-founder of both Mountain Goat Software—which specializes in agile development training, consulting and coaching—and the Scrum Alliance—which is dedicated to transforming the way people work by promoting and developing the use of the Scrum framework.

Mike Cohn was born in New Jersey and attended Swarthmore College, where he majored in religious studies. After completing his undergraduate studies, he moved to Boulder, Colorado and began working at Kodak as an engineer. As his career evolved, Mike Cohn began to recognize the need and value of more agile project management, which led to his becoming one of the most prominent and respected names in the agile software development field.

Cohn has authored seven books on agile and Scrum concepts and practices, including Essential Scrum (2014), User Stories Applied (2004), Succeeding with Agile (2010) and Agile Estimating and Planning (2005). He is a frequent speaker and presenter at various conferences and seminars, sharing his insights and advice on agile software development.

Mike Cohn is a highly accomplished practitioner of agile development and has been recognized as one of the early and most influential members of the Agile Alliance. He was a founder of the Scrum Alliance, serving as its first executive director, and is heavily involved in the creation and promotion of Scrum-oriented products and services. He also founded Mountain Goat Software, which provides agile training and consulting to organizations worldwide.

In addition to his work with Mountain Goat Software, Cohn sits on the Executive Committee of the Scrum Alliance, Scrum Expert Board for the Scrum Alliance Professional Scrum Master program and the Certified Scrum Professional Training Path Program Board. Mike Cohn is deeply committed to the advancement of agile development, and his writings, seminars and workshops have helped spread the word around the world.

Primarily through his books, Mike Cohn has crafted and delivered valuable concepts and processes regarding the management of software projects. While Agile Estimating and Planning is mainly focused on Scrum, a few of its techniques can also be applied to more traditional planning methods. Cohn provides a comprehensive, practical guide to estimating and planning, as well as a valuable set of insights into the science of estimates.

Among Mike Cohn’s other works, User Stories Applied stands out as a comprehensive guide to effective user story writing, providing a detailed instruction on proper user story creation and an investigation into real-world user stories and their development. Succeeding with Agile is a well-rounded resource that covers a broad range of topics, from transitioning to an agile project to measuring its success.

Mike Cohn’s passionate commitment to the agile development process shines through in everything he does. His books, seminars, and workshops have helped to promote the proper use and implementation of agile techniques throughout the software industry, while also providing an invaluable source of knowledge and experience to be drawn upon.