Shaped by Demand: the power of fluid teams - Daniel Terhorst-North | Craft 2025

Most software delivery models are designed around ‘stable, long-lived teams’. Most agile methods embrace this as a core assumption, with the possible exception of Team Topologies' short-lived ‘enabling teams’. What if we turn this model on its head? Each quarter, the entire programme team, anything from 20 to 200 people, reorganise themselves based on the expected demand for the next quarter. Surely this is a recipe for chaos, confusion and disaster? This session describes Demand-Led Planning, a model that has evolved over more than a decade, to optimise the people around the work. We discover why there is no need for teams to be either ‘stable’ or ‘long-lived’, and show how people can be more motivated, aligned and successful through regular re-teaming. This talk was recorded at Craft Conference 2025. The event was organized by CraftHub. You can watch the rest of the conference talks on our channel. If you are interested in more speakers, tickets and details of the conference, check out our website: https://craft-conf.com/ If you are interested in more events from our company: https://crafthub.events/