Technology Expertise Driven by Purpose

John English

— CEO, Achieve Digital LLC

My Journey Through Education, Technology, and Agile Leadership

At Achieve Digital, John English represents the intersection of strategy, execution, and education—bringing disciplined Agile leadership, deep technical understanding, and a lifelong commitment to learning that drives measurable results for clients and teams alike.

John English is a seasoned Agile leader, educator, and technology professional with more than three decades of experience guiding organizations through transformation, innovation, and sustainable delivery excellence. His career uniquely blends enterprise-level product delivery, Agile coaching, and academic leadership—making him a trusted authority in both business and technology-driven environments.

Currently serving as a Scrum Master at Rimini Street, John leads Product Delivery Management initiatives across North America, ensuring consistent value delivery, operational transparency, and team effectiveness. Since joining Rimini Street in 2021, he has been instrumental in aligning Agile practices with organizational strategy, enabling teams to deliver high-quality outcomes while adapting to evolving business needs.

John’s longest and most impactful professional chapter has been with Achieve Digital, LLC, where he dedicated over 13 years as a Senior Scrum Master and Product Owner. In this dual leadership role, he was responsible for defining product vision, maximizing return on investment, and serving as the final decision-maker for requirements and backlog prioritization. His work ensured that development efforts were aligned with business goals, customer expectations, and market realities. John played a pivotal role in determining release readiness, managing stakeholder expectations, and fostering a culture of clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement across multiple Scrum teams.

In parallel, John brought his expertise to Humana, where he served for over six years as both an Analyst and Scrum Master supporting the design, development, and maintenance of Humana.com. His contributions were transformative—helping reduce release cycles from six months to as little as two weeks while achieving full delivery transparency.

At Humana, John ensured Scrum principles were not only understood but deeply embedded into team culture. He introduced artifact maturity tracking, shielded teams from external disruptions, resolved critical impediments, and championed improved engineering practices. As a Certified SAFe Agilist, he also played a key role in coaching teams through a successful transition from Waterfall to Agile methodologies, dramatically accelerating time-to-market.

Before entering the corporate Agile space, John spent over 30 years at Kentucky State University as a Professor and Academic Administrator. As Chairperson of Computer Science and Technology programs, he led both undergraduate and graduate initiatives, introduced a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, and developed curricula spanning project management, software design, programming, databases, cloud services, and industry-standard application platforms. His academic leadership laid the foundation for countless students to succeed in technology-driven careers.

John holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instructional Design from the University of Kentucky, along with a Master’s degree in Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Technology Teacher Education from Western Kentucky University. His academic background reinforces his ability to coach, mentor, and guide teams with clarity, empathy, and structure.