The situation
The company's private-equity sponsor wanted cost out of the engineering organization — without breaking the product roadmap or the teams that ship it.
The timing made it harder: layoffs were sweeping the software industry. A cost program done crudely would have cratered morale and handed the best engineers to competitors.
What we did
- 01Ran the full set of engineering cost levers: developer-to-role ratios, team ways of working, cloud FinOps optimization, and portfolio backlog prioritization.
- 02Presented the strategy to the board first — then stayed to execute it.
- 03Followed through with developer-productivity coaching and agentic-SDLC best practices, so the smaller organization shipped more, not less.
- 04Ran deliberate change management through the whole transition.
The outcome
- Cost reduction delivered against the sponsor's mandate.
- Strong developer-satisfaction results through the transition — at a moment when layoffs were sweeping every IT firm.
- A more productive engineering organization at the end: better ratios, a sharper backlog, modern SDLC practices.
Engagement delivered by Avirso leadership during their tenure at a global management consultancy, prior to founding Avirso.