Roles
The roles in a technical Scrum framework are:
- Product Owner. Responsible for defining and prioritizing the product's features, ensuring that the development team's work is aligned with customer expectations and business goals.
- Developer. Each of the professionals who build the increment in each sprint.
- Scrum Master. Responsible for the effectiveness of the Scrum team: helps the team and the organization understand and apply Scrum, and creates the conditions for the team to continuously improve its way of working.
The Committed and the Involved
Everyone who takes part in the project or has a direct or indirect relationship with it falls into one of two groups: the committed and the involved. In Scrum circles, the former are often called "pigs" and the latter "chickens," although this terminology was removed from the official Scrum Guide in 2011 and is not recommended in formal settings.
These names come from the following metaphor, which vividly illustrates the difference between "commitment" to and "involvement" in the project:
A chicken and a pig were walking down the road. The chicken asked the pig: "Do you want to open a restaurant with me?"
The pig considered the proposal and replied: "Yes, I'd like that. And what would we call it?" The chicken replied: "Ham and eggs."
The pig stopped, paused, and answered: "On second thought, I don't think I'll open a restaurant with you. I'd be truly committed, while you'd only be involved."
The committed ("pigs") are those whose work and reputation are directly tied to the outcome: the development team, the Product Owner, and the Scrum Master. The involved ("chickens") are those who have an interest in the project but are not directly accountable for its outcome: executives, customers, end users, and other departments.
This distinction is relevant in Scrum meetings: during Sprint Planning and the Daily Scrum, contributions from the involved should be limited so as not to interfere with the work of the committed.
AI plays a role in the product's development, but it cannot commit to or guarantee a specific outcome.
Roles in Teams Using AI
AI does not introduce any new roles; rather, it is a team capability, for which the individuals comprising the team are responsible. The Product Owner, the Scrum Master, and the Developers are always human beings, and they remain accountable for the work outcomes, regardless of who—or what—produced them. What shifts is the focus of each role:
- Product Owner: As the cost of building decreases, the focus shifts from the tactical to the strategic: maintaining the vision, designing how the work will be validated, and determining where AI adds genuine value versus where it merely generates volume.
- Developers: The value of their work shifts, in part, from execution toward specification, orchestration, and review.
- Scrum Master: In addition to facilitating collaboration among people, the Scrum Master facilitates the working system between humans and AI, helping the team reach an agreement on how AI should be used and what its boundaries are.
Some organizations and guides use new terms for these roles, such as "product architect," "product builder," or "agile enabler"; these are not part of the standard framework.
Common mistake
Treating the Scrum Master as the project manager. The Scrum Master does not assign work, manage resources, or make product decisions. Their role is to ensure that the Scrum framework works properly, facilitate the events, remove impediments, and protect the team from outside interference. When the Scrum Master starts behaving like a traditional project manager, the team loses the self-management that makes Scrum effective.
Resources
📄 Product Owner v.2.0Free download (in Spanish) · Scrum Manager
📊 Scrum Master 5.0Free download · Scrum Manager
See also
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