Agile Journeys is an ongoing series of candid conversations with Agile professionals from across the spectrum – from technical leads and enterprise architects to Scrum Masters, Agile coaches, and transformation leaders. Each conversation dives into the realities of Agile transformations, adoption, and scaling: the frameworks that work (and the ones that don’t), the processes and tools that enable change, the techniques and tips that make a difference, and the challenges teams face along the way.
Our goal is simple: share unfiltered, practical insights from the people living Agile every day – so you can learn, adapt, and make your own teams thrive.
In this installment, we sat down with Viktor Grekov (LinkedIn), CEO & co-founder of Oboard, the company behind OKR Board for Jira & Confluence, a leading tool in the Atlassian Marketplace. With more than a decade of product management experience and hands-on success implementing OKRs, Viktor is passionate about helping organizations turn strategy into measurable outcomes. At Catapult Labs, we’re especially interested in how these practices intersect with Developer Experience (DevEx) — and how teams can turn strategy into measurable, lasting change.
From Product Management to OKR Board
Viktor’s journey into OKRs began long before Oboard.
“I was working as a product manager in a fast-growing company where everyone wanted to set their own priorities. The teams couldn’t deliver everything, and chaos was slowing us down. When we introduced OKRs, we finally had alignment and focus. But managing OKRs across ten teams in spreadsheets was painful. That’s when I thought — why not manage OKRs inside Jira?”
That practical frustration became the spark for Oboard: a tool to bring alignment and outcomes directly into the environment where teams already work.
Alignment and Focus in Fast-Growing Teams
When asked about the biggest blockers to alignment, Viktor was quick to answer.
“Alignment is always a big issue for fast-growing companies. Everyone is full of energy and wants to show their impact. But without focus, they just block each other. OKRs help prioritize outcomes, not just activities, and cascade them across departments so the whole company moves in the same direction.”
Who Uses Oboard?
One of the surprises for Viktor has been the diversity of companies adopting OKRs through Oboard.
“We have customers with 10 employees, and we have customers with 40,000 employees. The framework works for both — small teams get quarterly clarity, and enterprises get visibility across hundreds of streams. Even at Oboard, with 23 people, OKRs are how we plan every quarter.”
What Makes Oboard Unique?
The OKR software market is still young, but Oboard stands out by meeting teams where they already work.
“We integrate directly into Jira, Salesforce, and Monday.com. Marketing teams don’t need to leave monday, R&D stays in Jira, and leaders still see alignment in one OKR Board. It’s simple, fast to implement, and doesn’t require six months like Jira Align. You can be up and running in two days.”
Recently, Oboard launched something entirely new for the Atlassian Marketplace: combining OKRs with KPIs.
“OKRs drive strategy; KPIs monitor operational health. Put them together, and you can build a company operating system. You can even cascade revenue KPIs into objectives and measure progress against strategic goals.”
Keeping OKRs from Becoming “Just Another Process”
A common challenge in Agile transformation is avoiding process for process’s sake. Viktor sees the same risk with OKRs.
“OKRs are a process — but they must be implemented carefully. You need C-level buy-in, middle-management buy-in, and proof of concept with a few teams. Most importantly, you need a strategy. Without a clear strategic context, OKRs fail. Teams end up with isolated goals, misaligned from the company, and leaders push back.”
He also emphasized that alignment requires feedback loops — it’s not enough to set OKRs at the start of a quarter. Teams need structured ways to reflect, adapt, and course-correct. That’s where retrospectives play a critical role: closing the gap between strategy and execution.
Agile at Scale: OKRs as the Missing Link
Far from competing with Agile frameworks, Viktor believes OKRs and Agile complement each other.
“OKRs bring clarity for creating sprints. If you have a quarterly objective cascaded into team goals, then planning five two-week sprints becomes obvious. Your sprint goals connect directly to business outcomes. That’s where Agile and OKRs meet.”
AI and the Future of Goal Setting
Like many leaders, Viktor sees huge potential in AI — but with caveats.
“AI can check spelling, help formulate objectives, and even analyze alignment between parent and child OKRs. That’s powerful. But goals also need to be engaging. If AI writes your objectives, will your team feel ownership? That’s the tricky part.”
Oboard is already experimenting with AI features to detect misaligned goals across departments, helping leaders spot problems early.
Stories of Transformation
One of Viktor’s favorite case studies is Panasonic.
“They started with no strategy, only output planning. We helped them define a five-year strategy, cascade it into annual and quarterly OKRs, and adopt a two-week check-in cycle. The transformation was huge — they went from outputs to outcomes, from activity tracking to strategic alignment.”
Myths and Misconceptions
Viktor is quick to challenge two myths:
- “OKRs aren’t for everyone.”
“I disagree. OKRs can work for any company that wants alignment and outcomes. When people say they’re ‘not for us,’ it usually means they don’t want to change.” - “OKRs are simple to implement.”
“Not true. They require effort and accountability. Teams may push back because they don’t want to be in the spotlight. That’s why buy-in and coaching are critical.”
Advice for Leaders
When asked for advice, Viktor kept it simple:
“Invest time in learning. Read Measure What Matters or Radical Focus. Hire an OKR coach if needed. Companies have wasted millions trying to implement OKRs without knowledge. With the right guidance, you can save money and transform faster.”
And his retrospective-style advice:
- Stop: Running OKRs without strategy — department goals in isolation never work.
- Start: Using OKRs and KPIs together — track outcomes and health metrics to sustain progress.
Final Reflections
Viktor’s journey — from product manager wrangling OKRs in spreadsheets to CEO of a Marketplace leader — shows how practical frustrations can spark powerful solutions. His message is clear: alignment and focus turn strategy into outcomes.
Follow Viktor on LinkedIn and explore Oboard OKR Software to learn how OKR Board helps teams connect goals to execution inside Jira, Confluence, monday.com, Salesforce, and beyond.
And as always, discover more insights in the Agile Journeys series on the Catapult Labs blog.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Alignment and focus are the heart of OKRs.
- Oboard integrates OKRs into the tools teams already use.
- Combining OKRs with KPIs creates a company operating system.
- AI will support OKRs with alignment and strategy checks, but ownership remains human.
- Buy-in, strategy, and context are the foundations of successful OKR adoption.