Natalia Curusi & Aliona Zapanovici

Leading Through Resistance: Making Change Work in Complex Environments

Natalia Curusi
With over 20 years of experience in software delivery, Natalia Curusi is a seasoned expert in Agile Transformations, Delivery Optimisation, and Systems Thinking. Her background spans Software Development, Project Management, Service Management, and Enterprise Agile Coaching, and she currently leads Agile Community and transformation initiatives across the Asia Pacific region at Endava. Natalia has supported organisations across multiple industries in improving business agility, streamlining delivery, and enabling continuous improvement at scale.

Aliona Zapanovici
Aliona Zapanovici is an Agile Coach, mentor, and organisational change practitioner with experience in agile delivery, resistance to change, and human-centred transformation across private and governmental environments. Her work focuses on helping teams and leaders improve collaboration, strengthen ownership, and create more adaptive and transparent ways of working in complex settings. Through Scrum Mastery, agile coaching, and mentoring, she supports practitioners and organisations in navigating ambiguity, engaging with resistance, and building sustainable change in practice.

Leading Through Resistance: Making Change Work in Complex Environments
Resistance to change is a normal part of any transformation, especially in complex organisations. This talk explores how Scrum Masters and Agile practitioners can work with resistance instead of fighting it. Using real examples from government and enterprise environments, it shows how to build trust, create small wins, and move teams forward even when alignment is limited.