MAHD began with a practical question: how can physical-product teams gain the benefits of agile without ignoring the realities of hardware?
Early work led by Dorian Simpson, informed by product leaders and companies ranging from Intel to Technicolor, showed that neither traditional stage-gate systems nor software-centered agile methods fully solved the problem.
The opportunity was to preserve what makes agile valuable—short learning cycles, customer evidence, prioritization, collaboration, and empowered teams—while adding the planning, integration, production, governance, and long-lead considerations hardware requires.
That work produced the first MAHD release in 2017. Since then, the framework has continued to evolve through real projects, practitioner feedback, and substantial independent refinement by MAHD Framework LLC, leading to today’s MAHD 4.0 operating model, learning system, and implementation support.
We do not ask hardware teams to imitate software. We help them become agile in a way that fits the work.
The MAHD Framework was not created as a theoretical model. It evolved from years of working with teams developing complex products and experiencing the limitations of traditional approaches firsthand.
Today, MAHD helps organizations apply agile principles in ways that respect the realities of hardware development.
Dorian Simpson lead the development of the MAHD Framework after more than 40 years working across engineering, product development, operations, and business leadership roles. His experience spans complex hardware and hybrid product environments where successful outcomes require alignment across disciplines, teams, and organizations.
Throughout his career, Dorian saw a recurring challenge: traditional development approaches often struggled with uncertainty and cross-functional complexity, while software-focused agile methods did not fully address the realities of physical products.
He lead the development of The MAHD Framework to bridge that gap by helping organizations apply agile principles in practical ways that accelerate learning, improve collaboration, and enable better product decisions.
Vishal Sheth helps organizations adopt the MAHD Framework through training, coaching, and practical implementation support. With extensive experience applying agile principles across complex product development environments, he specializes in helping teams translate concepts into effective ways of working and optimizing organiztional flow.
Throughout his career, Vishal has seen that successful transformation requires more than introducing new methods—it requires building understanding, alignment, and confidence across teams. His focus is helping organizations overcome adoption challenges by connecting agile principles to the realities of their products, processes, and people.
As a MAHD Partner and Lead Coach, Vishal works with teams to accelerate learning, guide implementation, and develop the capabilities needed to sustain agile practices and deliver better outcomes.
MAHD is supported by experienced practitioners, coaches, and industry experts who share knowledge, support adoption, and help organizations advance hardware agility worldwide.
Applying MAHD principles across industries, organizations, and teams around the world.
A growing community of practitioners and coaches sharing experience and supporting adoption.
Real-world experience developing complex physical and hybrid products.
Real-world methods and tools designed for teams developing complex products.
Sharing resources, lessons learned, and experiences across the MAHD community.
Helping organizations build internal confidence and sustainable ways of working.
If you or your organization are experts in new product development, have a passion for seeing clients build new capabilities, and believe in the advantages of agile methods, we encourage you to learn more about our MAHD Partner Program. Email us to learn more.
