Who is Asad Safari (@asadsafari) ?

As I have been doing a lot the last weeks/months, I was looking to find people from countries we don’t have yet in “Who is agile”. I came across Asad. He got recommendations of being the first agile person in Iran. He founded IranAgile. And not just that, he translated Henrik’s Scrum and XP from the trenches, to persian. Having the ‘Who Is agile’ book translated in multiple languages, I know how much work that is. I also know a lot of translators of ‘Scrum and XP from the Trenches’, and they are all great agilists. So I started to follow Asad on twitter. Unfortunately most of what he says is not in English, but the few things he said I understood and I agreed with.

What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?

Many people in Iran know me as an Agile evangelist. Not many people know that I’m also a music lover. I love new age music especially Micheal Cretu’s music.

If you had not been in IT, what would have become of you?

I would have been a musician.

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?

As the founder of the Iran Agile community my biggest challenge is to make people and organizations realize that Agile can work in our culture.

What drives you?

I really like to help people. People who know me closely know that I will always be at the forefront of the Agile movement in Iran.

What is your biggest achievement?

My biggest achievement is that I have started the Iran Agile community. The Iran Agile community has been helping small and large organizations understand and adopt Agile.

What is the last book you have read?

Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Mart Lindstrom , Paco Underhill

What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?

Q What’s your passion?

Helping and coaching people to build better products.

Whom do you think I should ask next?

There are many people I would like to suggest. Here are a few:

  • Henrik Kniberg from Sweden who helped us to run the first Agile course in Iran
  • I would also like to recommend Faisal Mahmood from the UK who has been helping us reach our goal by doing several Agile courses in Iran.

June 2012

Tabriz, Iran

Update: if you like this, you can buy the book: who is agile here.