I recently spoke with Amir Kabbara, a product leader with experience at Microsoft, Amazon and Shopify, who currently serves as Advisor to the CEO at Paper. Amir is an expert in product management and he and I discussed at length the ethical concerns surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the education sector, among other topics.

We also discussed the critical role of data-driven decision-making at Microsoft, the significance of customer conversations at Amazon, and the application of Shopify's frameworks in shaping product strategies

Read on to discover more of what we chatted about in the recent episode of the Product Thinking podcast.

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I recently sat down with Atif Rafiq, best-selling author of ‘Decision Sprint’, founder and CEO of Ritual, but crucially also someone with a bonafide background in problem-solving and creating systems for innovation. Atif's career began in internet companies in the early days, working for AOL during its heyday.

He had loads to say on the Product Thinking podcast about how to create a culture of sustainable innovation and why it’s the CEO's responsibility to add clarity to the problem-solving frontier of every business.

Running explorations was another topic he hit upon in our conversations and how getting buy-in for that exploration is key to balancing long-term missions and short-term objectives.

Read on to discover more of what he told me.

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Sean O’Neill is currently the Chief Product & Technology Officer at Syncron but he has held senior product roles at a number of big organizations spanning Europe and the USA, including Amazon and Tesco.

He understands the importance of adaptability for a product manager, but he also has a lot of strong principles surrounding product management that he rarely veers from. These include the value-creation moments and financial literacy. I spoke to him recently on the newest episode of the Product Thinking podcast about the difference between product development in the US compared to Europe and he explained the subtleties in how he measures success, looking predominantly at renewals more than initial user sign-ups.

Read on to hear more of what he had to say.

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Sara Rossio is the Chief Product Officer at G2 and a hugely effective leader. Sara can leverage teams to develop and execute the sort of short and long-term strategic product plans that drive profitability up up and up. The way she talks about the dedication she has to bringing people along with her and helping to develop people on a personal level is utterly inspiring.

It was a real pleasure then, to sit down with Sara as I have recently. We shared ideas around AI, personalization, team motivation, user trust and many other topics.

Read on to hear what she had to say.

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Ying Chen is a seasoned product manager who has worked in both large enterprises and startups. She is well placed then, to discuss the pitfalls and upsides of working in both. 

Choosing which path is best for you is not straightforward, but advice on that front from someone who has worked in senior product roles at Covetrus, HubSpot, Luminoso Tech, and Quantive is worth listening to.

It was fascinating to speak to Ying on the Product Thinking podcast and understand how her learning mindset has allowed her to take different lessons from every position she’s held.

Read on to discover the key points made by Ying in our chat.

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Steve Portigal is an experienced user researcher who works with organizations to uncover insights about users, improve their research practice, and aid them in their product development. Ten years ago he first published “Interviewing Users”, and he has recently released a second, updated edition of the book. 

It was eye-opening to have him on the Product Thinking podcast to find out why he felt this update was a much-needed response to the changing ways in which research is and can be conducted

Read on to discover some of the key points made by Steve in our chat.

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Debbie Widjaja is the Chief Product Officer of Zero Gravity, but in her 13 year career has worked in roles with Shopify, Bulb, and Facebook just to name a few. I was delighted to welcome her onto the Product Thinking podcast to delve into her journey from Indonesia to her current role.

She explained her view on product principles and how important it is to establish them in order to guide your team in a direction that aligns with your values and the company DNA.

We covered AI, how to deliver innovation in smaller companies and what the future of product management looks like.

Read on to see what Debbie had to say.

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I recently sat down with Ryan Johnson, Chief Product Officer at CallRail to hear all about his fascinating journey in product management and how he feels the role has changed since his career began.

And it’s not only the role of the product manager that he sees as being all-change in recent years. Ryan explained to me how he sees storytelling being far more important than it used to be in boardroom environments.

Read on to hear more about Brian's journey and his valuable insights on product strategy and communication within a company.

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I recently sat down with Anthony Maggio, Head of Product and VP at Airtable to discuss combating challenges within the digital supply chain, addressing strategy drift, and how Anthony is spearheading Airtable’s newest: Airtable AI. 

Airtable is all about connecting people and data, and connecting with Anthony to hear his clarity of thought and collaborative ethos, it was clear to see why he’s become such a trusted figure in this space. You can read about some of the fascinating thoughts he shared with me on AI integration below.

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I was joined by a Harvard professor this week on the Product Thinking podcast. Amy Edmondson was my illustrious guest, author of the new hit book: “Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well”. 

In our wide-reaching discussion around psychological safety and the distinction between leadership and leaders, Amy’s ideas about how we ought to be better at failing took real compelling shape. I’m excited to share with you some of the thoughts and insights that arose out of our discussion below.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Mark McNally, a venture innovator who founded Nobody Studios, a startup incubator on the path to creating 100 compelling companies in the next 5 years. Join them as they discuss the fundamentals of building successful companies, the importance of culture, and the role of venture studios in supporting founders.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Stephen Bungay, author of The Art of Action and former Director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre. Join them as they explore Stephen’s approach to strategy execution. They discuss the common struggles in strategy execution and how to overcome them in your product management team.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Margaret Jastrebski, the SVP of Product at Tegus. Join them as they explore what it means to be a leader today. They discuss Margaret’s role at Tegus, the power of alignment within an organization, understanding sales and marketing, and the importance of a vision for execution.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Jacob Morgan, author of “Leading with Vulnerability.” Join them as they explore what it means to be a leader today. They discuss Jacob’s personal journey to vulnerability, balancing vulnerability and competency, the importance of being self aware and many actionables to be a better overall leader.

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Alex Wettrelos Chief Product Officer at Sunday. Join them as they explore the challenges of rapid scaling and then descaling during the 2022 tech-crisis. They discuss how Sunday, a fintech company innovating payment methods across the hospitality industry, went from an idea on a slide deck to 450 employees with $203 million of seed funding. They also touch on the differences between  product management in Europe & the US.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Aaron Smith joins Melissa Perri. Together, they discuss Aaron’s best practices he learned from his time at Amazon, key leadership principles, creating a culture of accountability, and the destiny creator mindset. 

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In this episode of the Product Thinking podcast, host Melissa Perri is joined by Darren Wilson, Chief Product Officer of Soul Machines. Join them as they explore Darren’s journey to CPO of Soul Machines, a company that produces digital humanoids. They discuss the challenges of building digital avatars, keeping up with AI technology, and leveraging user feedback to shape product strategies. 

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Matt DiBari joins Melissa Perri to discover the secrets of product management in high growth companies. Together, they discuss effective user research, the different mindsets in B2B & B2C, essential skills in high growth companies, and breaking into product management.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Mercedes Chatfield-Taylor, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Artico Search, joins Melissa Perri. Together, they discuss navigating the hiring landscape for Chief Product Officers, the importance of technical expertise and commercial acumen in today's market, and what the difference is between a Head of Product and a Chief Product Officer.

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In this episode of Product Thinking, Tim Armandpour, Chief Technology Officer at PagerDuty, joins Melissa Perri to explore leadership qualities, product & technology roles, their challenges, and the importance of an overarching company vision. They discuss user-centricity, product-market fit, and aligning teams.

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