I think it's just that the business wants to know where their money is actually going (and they have every right to, it's effectively their money, or managed under their auspices). and unfortunately agile is one way they can accomplish that. It's unfortunate because it costs a lot of developer time to go through the motions, and we are the closest witnesses to this overhead/waste.
I think using/not using agile is like doing business with a contract vs a handshake. When there are few enough people who trust each other, you can get by on a handshake. When you get into larger dollar amounts (like paying an office full of developers), sometimes its better to use a contract so you have some perception and promises about where your money is going.
Now, agile is of course not a contract, but if teams meet their deliverables, the business can at least see where their money went, which they are entitled to do.
I think using/not using agile is like doing business with a contract vs a handshake. When there are few enough people who trust each other, you can get by on a handshake. When you get into larger dollar amounts (like paying an office full of developers), sometimes its better to use a contract so you have some perception and promises about where your money is going.
Now, agile is of course not a contract, but if teams meet their deliverables, the business can at least see where their money went, which they are entitled to do.