Henrik Kniberg

See also

• FAQ - answer to frequently asked questions to Henrik, including contact info
• Bio - a short version of this page with Henrik's bio and profile image, for use in conference programs and such

Background

Henrik is famous for his previous work as coach at Spotify and LEGO, and his work as Minecraft gameplay designer at Mojang. He loves taking complex concepts and explaining them in a simple, visual way that anyone can understand.

His most famous work includes the "Spotify Engineering Culture" video (known worldwide as the "Spotify Model"), the viral video "Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell", the skateboard metaphor for product development, and live demos with ping pong balls and smiley sticky notes to demonstrate flow and focus. He has also written several books on Scrum and Agile product development, is a Certified Scrum Trainer, and cofounded GoClimate.com and Hups.com.

Henrik lives in Stockholm with his wife and four kids and a bunch of random music instruments.

Publications

Selected Books

• Generative AI in a Nutshell - how to survive and thrive in the Age of AI
• Lean from the Trenches - managing large scale projects with kanban
• Kanban and Scrum - making the most of both
• Scrum and XP from the Trenches

Selected articles

• Are Developers Needed in the Age of AI? - some thoughts about generative AI impacts software development as a craft and profession
• Making sense of MVP (and why I prefer earliest testable/usable/lovable) - the origin of the skateboard vs car metaphor
• Agile in the Age of AI - some observations and reflections about how Agile principles and practices are affected by generative AI
• Scaling Agile @ Spotify with Tribes, Squads, Chapters & Guilds - this article, followed by the culture video, is the origin of the so-called Spotify Model

Selected videos

• The simplest way to make an advanced AI agent - a demo of our platform and approach to making autonomous AI agents.
• Generative AI in a Nutshell - a full day AI course crammed into 18 minutes, very popular video
• What is an AI coworker - demonstrates how autonomous AI agents and humans can work together
• Minecraft Terrain Generation in a Nutshell - a behind-the-scenes look at how Minecraft terrain generation actually works
• Spotify Engineering Culture - the origin of the so-called Spotify Model
• Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell - short visual summary of agile, very popular video
• Friendly Guide to Climate Change - short summary of climate change and what you can do about it
• The Resource Utilization Trap - a live demo of the pull principle in lean
• Testing Minecraft with Minecraft - showcasing an internal framework for using minecraft to build and run unit tests for the game itself
• Multitasking vs one piece flow - live demo of the consequences of multitasking

Selected keynotes & talks

• AI Agents in Practice - GOTO 2025, Copenhagen
• The Future of Work - JFokus 2025, Stockholm
• How to make awesome products - Mind the Product, London
• Confessions of a Change Agent - Agile Turkey, Istanbul
• Focus (Stop Starting and Start Finishing) - Agile By Example, Warsaw

Selected podcast episodes

• AI AW Podcast - How we build AI agents
• Stella podcast - Agentifying software development
• This week in video games - we talked about Minecraft development, leadership, visual thinking, remote work, and other topics.
• The spawn chunks "The hills are alive with Henrik Kniberg" - we talked about the new terrain generation in Minecraft among other things.
• Visual thinking podcast (also on Spotify & Apple) - we talked about how I visualize, teach, and communicate. And also about product design and other things.

Social media

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@henrikkniberg
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hkniberg/
• Twitter/X: http://x.com/henrikkniberg

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