Scaling Agile Requirements Competency

SAFe is built around Lean-Agile product development flow with a focus on delivering business value. Effective requirements provide the foundation for this by:

• Aligning Work to Value: They ensure that all development efforts are focused on work that provides the highest value to the customer and the business.
• Facilitating Flow: They enable Lean practices by managing a scaled work hierarchy (epics, features, user stories). Additionally, they enable the organization to control work in process (WIP), which is crucial for predictable flow and a fast time-to-market.

Mastering this competency shifts the focus from writing perfect, static documents to fostering a continuous, collaborative process for creating, refining, and validating requirements. This competency will cover:

• The key types of requirements in SAFe, their importance, and how to start writing them. 
• How to utilize a scaled requirements model to establish connections between strategy and execution.
• Common techniques for creating requirements that enhance quality and collaboration across technical and business roles.

Which roles would benefit from mastering this competency?

This competency is designed for individuals responsible for creating, prioritizing, and utilizing requirements to develop products or solutions. This includes Product Owners and Product Managers, Agile Team members, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches, System and Solution Architects, Release Train Engineers (RTEs), Portfolio Leadership, Epic Owners, and Business Owners. 

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Learning about Scaling Agile Requirements

SAFe uses a hierarchy of backlogs to ensure a seamless connection between the highest-level strategy and daily team execution, Figure 1. This process is driven by key leadership roles collaborating across the organization as follows.

• Portfolio Leaders and Enterprise Architects define and prioritize high-level, strategic portfolio epics, as well as the necessary large-scale enabler epics (i.e., exploration, architecture, infrastructure, and compliance) to support the overall portfolio. Epic Owners focus on the emergent lean business case, while Enterprise Architects ensure the technical feasibility and alignment with the long-term technical vision. This work makes up the portfolio backlog.
• Product Management and System Architects translate approved Epics into tangible, valuable product increments, called features, that fit within a Product Increment PI. System Architects refine the technical approach and define the necessary enablers that extend the architectural runway. Product Management owns the ART backlog and prioritizes these features and enablers in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Product Owners (POs) and Agile Team members are responsible for delivery, breaking down features into small, testable user stories and the necessary enabler stories that can be completed within a single iteration. The PO sequences the team backlog, and the Agile Team (of which the PO is a part) is responsible for aligning on the acceptance criteria required for implementation. 

Through this approach, epics enable the business to establish its strategic direction while empowering the ART and individual Agile Teams to make decentralized decisions about implementation details via features and stories.

NOTE: It is important to note that not all valuable work originates as a top-down epic work breakdown. ARTs and individual Agile Teams are empowered to discover, define, and implement local improvements, maintenance, and technical debt resolution (as features, stories, and enablers) that align with the broader strategic intent but do not require formal traceability back to a portfolio epic. This is essential for fostering a culture of continuous improvement, maintaining the architectural runway, and allowing local innovation, which are critical elements of decentralized decision-making in SAFe.

By recognizing the role of each requirements type—epics identify solutions to high-level business problems, features describe product value increments, and stories hold the implementation details—SAFe empowers the roles described above to make decentralized decisions. This means Product Owners and Agile Team members are given the autonomy to determine how to implement a story, fostering local innovation and technical ownership while still ensuring the work aligns with the strategy as defined by portfolio leadership.

Requirements, especially epics, are treated as hypotheses (for example, “Implementing X will result in Y”) to be validated through objective evidence. Techniques like spikes and the implementation of a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) enable rapid learning, allowing the organization to pivot or persevere based on real data, rather than relying on fixed assumptions. This hypothesis-driven approach ensures the work remains focused on delivering actual business outcomes.

Below are definitions of each requirement type. If you are not familiar with the related SAFe guidance article, it is recommended that you read each one before moving to the applying section of this competency.

Ensuring System Quality with Non-Functional Requirements

It should also be noted in Figure 1 that non-functional requirements (NFRs) constrain each of the backlogs. In addition to the work items previously mentioned, NFRs address the system’s quality attributes. Common types of NFR include performance, security, availability, and accessibility. It is essential to provide a rationale and context for all NFRs by explaining the business or user need behind the constraint, as understanding the “why” empowers developers to find innovative solutions to meet the requirement. The following article explains NFRs in more detail.

Using Backlogs to Visualize and Sequence the Work

A clear visualization of the work to be done is a cornerstone of Agile requirements management. The backlog remains the ultimate source of truth for prioritization and managing progress, and to ensure that the highest-value work is delivered first. To fully apply this competency, please review the following backlog articles. Then, in the application section, you will put this knowledge into practice.

Applying the Scaling Agile Requirements Competency

This section provides an overview of the foundational knowledge required for scaled Agile requirements, covering the full lifecycle. It begins with the high-level strategic epic and traces its journey through feature refinement, prioritization, and decomposition into executable stories, ultimately leading to the release of value (Figure 2).

This section also serves as a practical guide to understanding how the various requirements work within SAFe’s events and cadences (PI Planning, iterations, System Demos, and so on) to ensure that strategic intent is translated into tangible, valuable product increments delivered to the customer. By walking through this end-to-end flow (Figure 2), we illustrate how to maintain alignment, maximize economic value, and ensure the continuous integration, testing, and demonstration that is the hallmark of effective Agile requirements management.

Scaled Agile Requirements Flow: From Strategy to Release

This explanation assumes that an epic has been created and approved for further decomposition by Portfolio Leadership.

1. Decomposing Epics into Features

Since epics are too large to be delivered within a single PI, they must be systematically broken down. As we learned before, features are the smaller, distinct, and value-delivering units that ARTs work on. This step ensures the high-level vision is translated into manageable increments that can each be delivered within the Agile Release Train’s (ART) PI cadence. Each feature must be articulated clearly enough to stand alone as an increment of product value and be accompanied by a benefit hypothesis and acceptance criteria.

For a newly prioritized epic, organize a focused, collaborative session involving the Epic Owner, Product Management, System Architects, and key team members, including Product Owners. Quickly articulate 5-10 potential high-value features stemming from the epic. Often, it can be useful to focus on identifying the highest-value features that prove or disprove a core assumption about the epic hypothesis. Review these features against the epic’s lean business case and ensure they can reasonably fit into a single PI for an ART. This immediately translates a strategic goal into manageable, valuable increments.

2. Prioritize Features in the ART Backlog

The ART backlog provides a holding pattern for upcoming features. Prioritization is key to maximizing the economic benefit delivered. Product Management prioritizes features in the ART Backlog using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF). This prioritization method helps the ART focus on the items that deliver the highest value fastest, optimizing for flow and a fast time-to-market. A continuous prioritization process is necessary, as new information, market demands, or technical challenges may shift the optimal sequence.

3. Decompose Features into Stories and Plan

During PI Planning, the ART plans to deliver a set number of features. This commitment is based on a shared understanding of the feature’s scope and the necessary enablers required to build any supporting architectural runway. To provide this understanding, the Product Owner (PO) and the Agile Team collaborate to break down each feature into small, testable chunks of work called stories. A story is the smallest unit of work, designed to be completable within a single Iteration. Outside of the PI Planning event, the stories are further refined to include clear acceptance criteria, often using techniques like Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD), which transforms vague requirements into clear, executable, and testable work. This decomposition empowers the team by giving them ownership of the implementation details, i.e, how the work is done.

4. Integrate, Test, and Demonstrate Stories

The true measure of the effectiveness of an Agile requirement is the working change to the product or solution that it produces. Within each iteration, each Agile Team builds, integrates, and tests its committed stories. To support this implementation work and prevent the accumulation of partial, untested work, a definition of done can be applied across each increment of the product or solution being developed (Figure 3.)

System Integration and Testing: The frequent integration point—ideally continuous—is mandatory. All teams within the ART often integrate their code, features, and stories. Done well, this integration makes it extremely difficult for ambiguous requirements to linger or technical interfaces to drift apart. This fast feedback loop ensures that the requirements truly work together and effectively meet the business’s goals.

Demonstration and Validation: The Iteration Review is a critical event where working, integrated Stories are demonstrated and feedback is provided within an Agile Team, its PO, and relevant stakeholders to the work being reviewed. Teams that choose to use Kanban will still demonstrate and validate their work with each iteration to their team members and relevant stakeholders; they may simply adhere to a formal timebox, as SAFe Scrum Teams do. At the PI level, the System Demo presents the integrated features for the entire ART. These demonstrations provide the essential validation that the requirements, as implemented, deliver the intended business value, allowing stakeholders to provide early feedback and trigger necessary adjustments for the next cycle.

5. Release Features and Enhance the Product or Solution

The ultimate goal of this entire process is to deliver tangible value to the customer. Once Features have been successfully integrated, tested, and validated across the ART, they are ready for release. SAFe advocates for Continuous Delivery, meaning Features are released to the end-user as soon as the business deems it necessary and valuable, potentially independent of the PI cadence.

6. Review Features and Progress on a PI Cadence

The PI cadence ensures that the team’s work is constantly reviewed and adjusted, with the longer-term plan remaining flexible based on emergent learning. At the end of the PI, the PI System Demo provides validation of the full set of PI objectives and a review of the fully integrated product or solution that the ART has developed and improved throughout the PI. Learning from this milestone is taken forward into the next PI Planning event and helps to determine the next set of prioritized features. During the Inspect & Adapt (I&A) event, flow metrics are analyzed alongside quality metrics to identify bottlenecks and adjust team practices to improve the speed and quality of work.

Mastering the Scaling Agile Requirements Competency

Mastering this competency means that an organization consistently and efficiently defines, prioritizes, and validates Agile requirements at scale, ensuring that all development efforts drive measurable business outcomes. The organization has moved beyond ambiguous requirements to achieve a true, shared understanding, which has significantly reduced waste and accelerated time-to-market.

Key Indicators of Mastery

The following behaviours and practices are a good indication that mastery has been achieved. Consequently, if they are not in place, they become a focus for improvement.

• Consistent focus on quality: Teams consistently use acceptance criteria and the definition of done to provide clarity and ensure continuous validation.
• Value-driven alignment: All ARTs consistently use objective, economic prioritization models, such as WSJF, to sequence work, linking every feature directly to a clear, anticipated business outcome.
• Connected feature and enabler flow: There is a continuous flow of both new business features and the necessary enablers, often supported by a dedicated capacity allocation for extending the architectural runway.
• Balance of emergent requirements: Agile Teams, Architects, and Product Management have created a balance between intentional architecture (top-down guidance) and emergent design (bottom-up refinement).
• Continuous learning: The organization is adept at using spikes, prototypes, and learning milestones to treat all significant requirements as hypotheses to be tested, not as fixed specifications.
• Sequencing the ART and team backlogs with a flow mindset: The work items that maximize the flow of value are prioritized for each Iteration. Work that is not yet a priority is not over-defined. 
• Utilizing Iteration Review to incorporate feedback: Actively incorporate stakeholder feedback during the Iteration Review on completed stories.

Self-Assessment Questions for Scaling Agile Requirements

This self-assessment provides a simple method for evaluating your progress towards the application and desired outcomes of this competency.

1. When defining an epic, do you consistently treat it as a hypothesis to be validated?
2. When decomposing an epic, do you start with the features defined specifically to validate or invalidate the riskiest assumptions (desirability, feasibility, viability)? 
3. Do you use Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) or a similar economic prioritization method to sequence features? 
4. Do Product Managers actively collaborate with System Architects to identify, prioritize, and allocate capacity for the necessary Enablers to maintain and extend the Architectural Runway? 
5. Are non-functional requirements (NFRs)—such as security, performance, and reliability—documented, prioritized, and considered as constraints across all backlogs? 
6. Is there a consistent process within your team or ART to ensure that stories are built, integrated, and demonstrated to relevant stakeholders for feedback each iteration? 
7. Can you trace stories back to a feature and, where applicable, the Epic it was intended to fulfill, confirming alignment with business strategy? 
8. Do you and your team regularly analyze flow metrics to identify and remove bottlenecks in the requirements definition and development process?

Fixing a Broken Requirements Flow at Commercemart

Commercemart, having established its foundation in responsive roadmapping, now faced the inherent challenge of translating strategic initiatives into tangible, executable work across its numerous ARTs. The Scaling Agile Requirements Competency became their immediate focus, driven by the realization that their biggest bottleneck was no longer planning a path, but the quality and connectivity of the work across backlogs. Product Management teams struggled with epics that arrived with vague business cases, resulting in feature definitions that lacked a clear, testable value hypothesis. This resulted in ARTs frequently having to stop development mid-PI to clarify scope, creating the exact rework and waste the competency was designed to eliminate, ultimately slowing down their ability to respond to dynamic e-commerce market demands.

Portfolio and product leaders, along with the RTEs, decided to move forward with the “Launch Global Subscription Service” epic, a major strategic investment for the upcoming fiscal year. Instead of immediately writing hundreds of technical features, the Epic Owner, Product Manager, and System Architect held a focused workshop to identify the riskiest assumption: Desirability. They hypothesized that European merchants would not adopt the subscription without a specific multi-currency invoicing feature. This single, critical assumption drove the definition of the first feature: a simple, multi-currency invoicing feature for only five test merchants.

This shift in focus immediately streamlined the ART’s work. The Product Manager prioritized this feature using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), explicitly giving a higher value for the “Risk Reduction” component. As the feature moved into the ART backlog, the Product Owner (PO) for the “Payment Engine” team scheduled a dedicated story refinement session. In this session, the team broke down the feature into stories, defining the “Given-When-Then” acceptance criteria collaboratively before any code was written. For example, a core story was defined: “Given a merchant is set to EUR, When they view the invoice page, Then the final amount is correctly displayed in EUR and USD conversion is visible.”

This new, rigorous flow—from a strategic hypothesis to a clear, testable story—transformed the team’s velocity and clarity. The feature was built, integrated, and demonstrated successfully in the first two iterations, validating the critical desirability assumption with real-user feedback. The success of this pilot provided Commercemart with tangible evidence that mastering the Scaling Agile Requirements competency was the essential step in achieving a continuous, high-quality flow of value. It confirmed that their roadmaps would only truly be delivered in Lean-Agile ways when the underlying requirements were clear, testable, and deeply connected to strategic business outcomes.

Continuing your Journey through the SAFe Competencies

Last Update: 1 December 2025