Product Talk

How do product leaders decide what AI should automate and what should stay human-in-the-loop? In this podcast hosted by Mphasis VP of Products Chenny Solaiyappan, Level AI Head of Product Sirisha Machiraju will be speaking on how teams move AI from experimentation to strategic priority while balancing trust, adoption, and risk in enterprise environments. She also shares a practical playbook for evaluating assistive vs. agentic workflows and explains how conversation intelligence is reshaping customer experience across industries, including healthcare.

How can product leaders cut through AI hype to build products that actually deliver value? In this podcast hosted by Boston New Technology CPO Shweta Agrawal, Former Amazon, PayPal & Target Product Leader West Stringfellow will be speaking on how to apply AI with a product-first mindset. Drawing from decades of experience scaling global platforms, he shares how to balance innovation with discipline, avoid overestimating AI capabilities, and focus on what truly drives customer impact and business growth.

What does it take to build AI-powered products that customers actually trust? In this podcast hosted by EY Chief Platform Officer Justin Leibow, Unit21 Sr Product Leader Dhiraj Bhat will be speaking on how product leaders can design systems that leverage AI effectively. Drawing from his experience building fraud prevention products, Dhiraj explores the shift from feature-driven PM to systems thinking, and why implementation and trust will define the winners in AI.

What does it mean to prompt AI the product manager way? In this podcast hosted by Hoda Mehr, Co-founder and CEO of Up My Mojo and a Board Member at Products That Count, Ridge Ventures Venture Partner Akriti Dokania will be speaking on how product leaders can approach AI prompting with a product mindset. Akriti brings a rare perspective, having worked as an engineer and product manager at Amazon and Microsoft and now serving as a venture partner and board member to several successful B2B startups. The conversation was sparked by an article Akriti recently published on how to prompt AI models the product manager way, an idea that reframes the current AI conversation. While much of the industry focuses on what AI models can do, Akriti argues that the real variable is the person using them: how the problem is framed, how the conversation is structured, and whether the user knows what kind of help they are actually looking for. Together, they go deep on practical frameworks product builders can use immediately, the mindset shifts that separate those who get real value from AI from those who stay in the shallow end, and what Akriti's experience across engineering, product management, and venture investing reveals about the difference between product builders who are truly AI-native and those who are simply using AI.

How can product leaders navigate the shift from product-centric to platform-centric strategies in financial services? In this podcast hosted by EY Chief Platform Officer within the Financial Services Organization Justin Leibow, Tavant Associate Director of Product Management Sandeep Shivam discusses the evolution of lending experiences through a platform approach. They explore the role of user research in product development, the impact of AI on customer expectations, and the importance of building trust in AI systems. Sandeep shares insights on optimizing operational efficiency, the challenges of regulatory compliance, and the significance of creating real value for users. This episode offers practical guidance for product leaders aiming to enhance user experience and leverage AI effectively in their strategies

How can AI eliminate one of the most frustrating parts of knowledge work: tracking and reporting time? In this podcast hosted by iDonate VP Product & Engineering Nacho Andrade, Laurel Chief Product Officer Jiaona Zhang discusses how AI can automatically capture and classify how professionals spend their time, turning everyday activity into structured insights. The conversation explores how AI agents can automate tedious workflows like timesheets while helping product teams move faster, stay grounded in user problems, and rethink leadership in an AI-native organization.

 How can enterprises harness powerful AI responsibly? In this podcast hosted by Mphasis VP of Products Chenny Solaiyappan, Giggso Co-Founder Ravi Venugopal speaks about operationalizing AI safely and responsibly in regulated industries. He shares how governance, security, and observability form the guardrails for enterprise AI, why "AI must be farmed, not left to run wild," and how leaders can balance experimentation, innovation, and compliance while upskilling their workforce in an AI‑native world.

What does it take to build AI for customer service that improves real customer outcomes instead of just sounding intelligent? In this podcast hosted by Boston New Technology CPO Shweta Agrawal, Microsoft Product Lead Madhuri Somara shares how her team is building AI-powered case management solutions that automate routine work while keeping humans in the loop for judgment and empathy. She discusses designing AI systems that increase resolution speed, surface transparency in decision-making, and elevate the overall customer experience in complex service environments.

Can product management be fully automated with AI, and what happens if you try? In this podcast hosted by Hoda Mehr, Co-founder and CEO of Up My Mojo and a Board Member at Products That Count, Descript CEO Laura Burkhauser shares how her team experimented with automating nearly 100% of the product management workflow using AI. She discusses the surprising results of that experiment, how AI is changing the role of product managers, and why the future of product work may look very different from the processes teams rely on today.

Can design thinking and partnerships accelerate climate solutions at the pace the world now demands? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, host Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing PolyGone Systems CEO & Co-Founder Nathaniel Banks to discuss the use of design thinking and partnerships to remove and recover microplastics across bodies of water, the balance of product iteration and customer testing, and and importance of education of a problem and relevant solutions to facilitate adoption

AI isn't breaking work, we are. So what actually needs to change? In this episode of the Product Talk podcast, host Denise Hemke sits down with product leader Sriram Iyer to explore why today's workplace crisis has less to do with AI and more to do with culture, trust, and leadership clarity. Drawing on decades of experience across platforms, AI products, and scaling organizations, Sriram unpacks how product roles are collapsing, why durable careers now require lifelong learning and generalist skills, and how a growing trust deficit is undermining teams. From the "70/70/70" career framework to practical ways leaders can rebuild trust and clarity, this episode is a must-listen for product managers and leaders navigating change without losing their humanity.

What does it really take to shift from shipping features to driving measurable outcomes at global scale? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Walmart Principal Product Manager Parul Jain shares how she approaches product strategy, innovation pipelines, and AI-enabled product operations. She unpacks how outcome-based planning reshapes team behavior, how to structure innovation as a repeatable system rather than a one-off event, and where generative AI can meaningfully elevate product decision-making without replacing human judgment.

Why do 85% of AI projects fail, and how can product leaders beat the odds? In this episode of the Product Talk podcast, host Denise Hemke sits down with Greg Nudelman, product and UX leader and creator of the Snowball Sprint, to unpack why AI initiatives break down and what it really takes to build AI products that succeed. Drawing on real-world examples from cybersecurity, enterprise AI, and IoT, Greg shares practical frameworks for framing the right use cases, thin-slicing real data, escaping POC purgatory, and redefining success beyond accuracy. A must-listen for product managers and leaders navigating AI-driven product strategy.

How can product leaders turn today's climate urgency into scalable hardware and software solutions that attract capital, unlock long-term energy storage, and build the diverse teams needed to make it all work? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, host Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Terrament Co-Founder & COO Eric Chaves to discuss leveraging existing technologies to generate sustainable energy and enable a long-term storage solution, as well as the importance of diverse experiences to identify a co-founder and future hires.

How should product leaders rethink pricing in an AI-driven world where value, speed, and automation are constantly shifting? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Decisionalpha CEO Etinosa Agbonlahor speaks on behavioral economics and the evolving psychology of pricing. She explores how companies can move beyond cost-plus models, design pricing as a strategic feature, and adapt monetization strategies as AI reshapes outcomes, efficiency, and customer expectations.

What really breaks when a company scales and why do proven playbooks suddenly stop working? In this podcast hosted by Boston New Technology CPO Shweta Agrawal, Apollo.io CPO Bela Stepanova speaks on what it takes to scale from $40M to $200M ARR and beyond. Drawing from her experience scaling multiple high-growth companies, Bella unpacks the mindset shifts, product strategy changes, and organizational decisions required to navigate hypergrowth without losing focus, quality, or customer trust.

How do you build an AI product that delivers real value long before AI becomes a buzzword? In this podcast hosted by Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr, Amplitude Head of AI and former Kraftful Founder Yana Welinder speaks on building AI-native products, staying relentlessly focused on real customer problems, and navigating the journey from startup to acquisition. Drawing from her experience taking Kraftful from early experimentation with large language models to being acquired by Amplitude, Yana shares practical lessons on product focus, founder-led growth, and what it truly takes to scale AI inside a large organization.

What if the most important part of product management has nothing to do with roadmaps, features, or technology? In this podcast hosted by Rachel Owens, Meta Product Leader Rick Sanchez speaks on why clarity is the most critical responsibility of a product manager. Drawing from a career spanning media, gaming, consulting, and AI-driven products, the conversation explores how great product leaders create alignment, unlock creative execution, and navigate complex problem spaces without relying on rigid frameworks.

How do you move from shipping features to building a product vision that actually drives growth? In this podcast hosted by Huntress Director of Product Nisarg Desai, American Express Vice President of Product Management Jose Quesada shares how he approaches product vision and strategy for one of the world's most scaled B2C platforms. Jose breaks down the difference between vision and strategy, how to ground ambitious north stars in execution, and what it takes to turn product thinking into a durable growth engine.

How do you turn messy, unstructured healthcare data into real-time intelligence that actually improves care? In this podcast hosted by Mphasis Vice President of Products Chenny Solaiyappan, Datycs CEO Dr. Srini Rao shares how his career spanning AI at IBM, global telecom infrastructure, and healthcare data engineering led him to tackle one of healthcare's hardest problems: making unstructured clinical data usable at scale. The conversation explores interoperability, NLP versus GenAI in regulated environments, and why real progress in value-based care depends on transforming clinical notes into actionable, standards-based data.

How do you decarbonize the world's most emissions-intensive industries at the speed climate science demands? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, host Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Calcetra CEO & Co-Founder Pauliina Meskanen to discuss decarbonizing heavy industries' manufacturing processes with thermal batteries to store high temperature heat, the role of customer discovery to building and scaling a product, and the importance of choosing the right partners and building relationships with trust and value creation. 

How do you scale generative AI in healthcare without sacrificing trust, transparency, or governance? In this podcast hosted by Mphasis Vice President of Products Chenny Solaiyappan, Cognizant Senior Director Elliot Papadakis shares how Cognizant is building and operationalizing an AI gateway that sits at the center of its responsible AI strategy. Elliot discusses embedding generative AI into payer workflows, designing human-in-the-loop guardrails, and using AI orchestration to unlock productivity gains across complex healthcare systems while keeping accountability and patient impact front and center.

What does it take to create an AI product that becomes part of someone's workflow for good? In this podcast hosted by Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr, Grammarly/Superhuman Chief Product Officer Noam Lovinsky breaks down the company's bold shift from a writing assistant to a multi-product ecosystem spanning agents, email, documents, and more. He shares the product frameworks, organizational structures, and leadership philosophies behind this transformation, offering a candid look at what it means to build deeply retentive AI products at scale.

How do product leaders think big enough to compete in an AI-native world? In this podcast hosted by Sid Shaik, Walmart U.S. former Chief Product Officer John Alferness joins us again and speaks on scaling AI at retail and enterprise scale. He breaks down how CPOs can separate core AI capabilities from applications, choose the right moonshots, and use AI to unlock personalization, efficiency, and growth in low-margin businesses.

What does it take to think bigger when your products already operate at massive scale? In this podcast hosted by Sid Shaik, Walmart U.S. former Chief Product Officer John Alferness breaks down how product leaders can push beyond incremental gains to unlock true step-change growth. He explores the mental models behind moonshots, the discipline required to manage risk at scale, and why AI is accelerating the pace of change for every product organization.

What does it take to build products that stand out in one of the most technical spaces in the industry? In this podcast hosted by Cassio Sampaio, Nutanix Vice President & General Manager Dan Ciruli speaks on how product leaders can guide customers through complex infrastructure decisions and stand out in ecosystems dominated by hyperscalers. He explores the realities of legacy systems, the skills PMs need to thrive in deeply technical environments, and the opportunities emerging across the evolving infrastructure stack.

What happens when a fragmented internal tool becomes the strategic backbone of a multibillion-dollar enterprise? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Microsoft Senior Technical Product Lead Sangeetha Rajkumar shares how she rebuilt an overlooked portfolio system into a high-impact engine for clarity, alignment, and productivity. She traces her journey across T-Mobile, Microsoft, Amazon, and Walmart, and reflects on the product thinking, leadership lessons, and human-centered mindset that shaped her approach to scale and transformation.

How do you build an AI product that's powerful, reliable, and grounded in real user needs? In this podcast hosted by Qventus Product Director Mark Bailes, Google Product Lead Alankar Agnihotri discusses what it really takes to build impactful AI and LLM-driven products. He shares the hidden complexities behind model behavior, the shift from deterministic to probabilistic design, and what product managers must do to deliver AI experiences that scale. You'll hear firsthand insights from someone shaping Gemini in Android Automotive and building the future of in-car intelligence.

What separates the CPOs who scale with confidence from those who get stuck? In this podcast hosted by Sid Shaik, Pendo Chief Product Officer Trisha Price breaks down how top product leaders think, operate, and make decisions that move entire organizations forward. She shares hard-earned lessons from scaling complex enterprise software, leading both vertical and horizontal product portfolios, and shaping product strategy in a fast-moving AI era.

What challenge separates teams that ship real customer impact from those that just ship features? In this podcast hosted by Cassio Sampaio, Retool Head of Technical Customer Experience Chris Harry explores how customer-facing teams and product teams can partner to drive meaningful adoption, credibility, and long-term trust. He shares practical insights from two decades of working with deeply technical products and demanding enterprise environments, offering a grounded perspective on what it takes to translate product vision into real-world value.

What does it take to build something genuinely new inside a $60B Enterprise? In this podcast hosted by Sid Shaik, Outshift by Cisco VP & CPO Papi Menon breaks down how product leaders can drive meaningful innovation inside massive enterprises, and why the future depends on incubating bold bets like agentic AI and quantum networking. He shares how to identify ideas worth pursuing, how to navigate internal pressure from sales and the board, and how to create strategic optionality that reshapes a company's trajectory. This is essential listening for product leaders looking to understand what high-stakes innovation actually demands.

What if a single platform could turn any online store into a self-optimizing growth engine? In this podcast hosted by Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr, Moonshot AI Co-Founder and CEO Aviv Frenkel will be speaking on how AI-driven experimentation is transforming conversion optimization for ecommerce brands. Drawing from his founder journey, he explores what it takes to automate CRO, build user trust in AI-generated decisions, and scale a product that continuously learns. He also shares the broader vision for applying autonomous optimization across all digital experiences and the mindset required to build in today's AI-driven market.

What happens when product teams operate in markets where failure isn't an option? In this podcast hosted by iDonate VP of Product Nacho Andrade, Propel VP of Product Marketing Tom Shoemaker explores how teams build high-quality physical products in complex, high-stakes environments. He digs into the realities of PLM, quality management, commercialization, and the rising role of AI across hardware and medtech. The conversation offers a grounded look at collaboration, learning, and delivering reliable products when the margin for error is razor thin.

What does it take to lead and excel as a product leader in the age of AI? In this podcast hosted by NEOGOV CPO Denise Hemke, GoodRx former VP of Product Sandy Huang speaks on people sense, discovery, execution, and the judgment required to build great products in an AI-accelerated world. She shares insights from two decades across Amazon, GoodRx, Flipboard, Minted, and Shutterfly, offering a grounded look at how product leaders can stay sharp, adaptable, and customer-obsessed as the pace of building accelerates.

What happens when building a product means outsmarting an intelligent adversary every single day? In this podcast hosted by Cassio Sampaio, Tenable Vice President of Product and Program Management Matthew Frank will be speaking on the realities of creating secure B2B SaaS products. He explores how exposure management is evolving, why identity is becoming the new perimeter, and how AI is reshaping both sides of the cybersecurity battlefield.

How do you build products that can keep pace with the climate crisis without compromising on speed, innovation, or customer insight? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Elysian Aircraft Co-Founder & Co-CEO Daniel Rosen Jacobson to discuss decarbonizing aviation industry via EV battery, prioritizing to get customer feedback early, as well as being able to learn and unlearn to succeed in product development.

Can product thinking truly transform government services? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by NEOGOV CPO Denise Hemke, State of Maryland CPO Sheetul Agrawal speaks on reimagining government technology through customer-centric innovation. Sheetul shares her groundbreaking approach to bringing product management principles into public sector digital services, revealing how AI and user-focused design can revolutionize how citizens interact with government platforms.

How do you keep engineering and product aligned while scaling B2B SaaS? In this podcast hosted by Cassio Sampaio, Iru Chief Technology Officer Jimmy Acosta shares his approach to building sustainable, customer-driven roadmaps that balance innovation with reliability. He discusses how engineering leaders can strengthen trust with product teams, manage trade-offs, and create alignment that drives long-term value.

How can diverse career experiences shape a stronger product leader? In this podcast hosted by Rachel Owens, Favor Delivery Chief Product Officer Rachel Losh shares how her unconventional path—from academia and publishing to leading product at Texas's food delivery app—taught her the power of customer empathy, adaptability, and business acumen. Rachel reflects on navigating nonlinear growth, building cross-functional trust, and leading with impact in fast-moving industries.

What does it take to lead product and technology teams through constant transformation? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by NEOGOV CPO Denise Hemke, ChatPRD Founder and LaunchDarkly Fmr CPTO Officer Claire Vo shares insights on the evolving role of the CPO, why speed beats perfection, and how AI is redefining experimentation and product management itself. Claire discusses her journey from founder to CPO, the rise of hybrid roles that blend engineering and product, and why the next generation of product leaders must think like business owners.

What happens when a product leader reimagines an entire ads ecosystem from first principles? In this podcast hosted by Sid Shaik, Reddit Director of Product Management Amit Ghorawat breaks down how he scaled multi-billion-dollar ad businesses and transformed connected TV performance. The conversation explores his pivots across industries, his approach to 10x growth, and how GenAI is reshaping the future of advertising and product leadership.

What changes when a product leader builds strategy around a single guiding metric and augments decision-making with AI-driven understanding? In this podcast hosted by Rachel Owens, Atelier by FIS SVP of Product Jon Eisenstein will be speaking on transforming product strategy through North Star metrics and AI-powered insights. Jon shares his entrepreneurial journey and breakthrough approaches to aligning product development with business goals, drawing from his extensive experience across technology, financial services, and startup ecosystems.

Packed with actionable leadership lessons about scaling, informal authority, and shifting from execution to systems thinking, in this special episode of Product Talk, Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr interviews Yahoo Mail General Manager Kyle Miller. It taps into a common aspiration among PMs: climbing to GM/CEO.

What defines a truly versatile product leader? In this episode hosted by Rachel Owens, Product Leader Tulsi Dharmarajan shares how moving across industries sharpened her ability to read context, navigate ambiguity, and elevate product work from execution to strategic problem-solving. She unpacks how curiosity fuels better decisions, how empathy strengthens collaboration, and how adaptability turns complexity into opportunity. The conversation offers practical guidance on earning trust, communicating with clarity, and staying effective in a landscape where expectations shift constantly.

What if the key to lowering healthcare costs wasn't new treatments, but smarter data? In this podcast hosted by Cognizant Sr Product Director Chenny Solaiyappan, Velox Health Metadata Founder and CEO Michael Klotz will be speaking on transforming clinical data interoperability and reducing healthcare costs. Michael shares insights from his two-decade journey in digital health, revealing how intelligent metadata automation can unlock unprecedented value in healthcare information systems.

What if you could design a product that transforms an entire industry in just 12 months? In this special episode of Product Talk hosted by Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr, Handshake AI Head of Design Gabe Schindler speaks about the company's rapid growth from a job marketplace to a $100 million AI company. Gabe discusses the challenges of designing for AI, emphasizing storytelling, collaboration, and anticipation. Discover the insider strategies that helped grow a startup from zero to massive scale by reimagining product design principles for artificial intelligence.

What if your product could solve a problem that keeps 44 million Americans up at night? In this podcast hosted by iDonate VP of Product Nacho Andrade, Summer Chief Product Officer Michael Scully will be speaking on turning complex financial challenges into strategic product opportunities. Drawing from his entrepreneurial background and deep product expertise, Scully reveals how product leaders can transform seemingly intractable problems into innovative solutions that create real human impact.

How is AI transforming legacy industries? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by NEOGOV CPO Denise Hemke, product executive Amira Youssef will be speaking on digital transformation in legal tech. Amira shares insights from her startup journey, exploring how AI can streamline complex processes and create innovative marketplace solutions for lawyers and clients.

How does hands-on technical experience shape the journey to becoming a CPO? In this podcast hosted by Boston New Technology CPO Shweta Agrawal, Appfire Fmr CPO Andy Boyd will be speaking on strategic vision and team building in product management. Andy shares his unconventional journey, insights on developing long-term product strategies, and the critical skills needed to lead product teams across different organizational stages.

How does a retail giant like Sam's Club stay ahead of the tech curve? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Sam's Club VP of Product Sharon Plasser will be speaking on the transformative power of AI and building high-performing product teams. Sharon shares her insights on navigating product leadership, driving innovation, and creating a culture of curiosity and trust that empowers teams to solve complex challenges.

How can complex products be turned into delightful user experiences? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, ADT Chief Product Officer Naveen Chhangani will be speaking on product innovation and user experience. Discover how AI, trust, and customer-centric design are transforming the way we think about safety and technology in our homes.