DeveloperWeek 2025

Andrew Schall, ServiceNow, UX Research Leader & Strategist

Allowing organizational fortunetellers to create a future state vision of a journey map is risky because their projections are often based on speculation, intuition, and vague aspirations rather than concrete data and a deep understanding of the current state.

The journey from the current state to the optimal future state can be envisioned as constructing a long metaphorical bridge. This bridge is supported by various foundational pillars, each representing a critical aspect of the progression. These pillars provide the necessary support for incremental solutions to realize the optimal future state.

In this session, you will delve into envisioning an ideal user experience by creating a future state journey map. You will learn how to ground your future state journey map in current realities based on data and user research, ensuring that solutions are practical, actionable, and directly address identified pain points. By following this structured, evidence-based methodology, organizations can successfully navigate the journey from the current state to the future state, building a robust bridge to support ongoing progress, innovation, and adaptation.

Chris Butler, GitHub, Product Manager

Today everyone is asking the question: "how can I use AI in my product?" The issue is not asking the question about leveraging new technological innovation but how we have the conversation between the technical people that know about it and those that want to leverage it to create great products.

In this talk, Chris Butler will show you how to have better conversations between those different practices in your teams. This will focus on a particular workshop called Analogical Innovation Mapping that is rooted in how new technologies find new uses based on their characteristics.

Rishiraj Pravahan, Google, Product Manager

This talk will explore how a technology capability can be transformed into a product. The talk will focus on what it means to have a product view of a technical capability and how to reason about a particular tech as a product. The talk will use examples from my experience of working on AI infrastructure to highlight the product point of view while discussing its challenges and advantages.
 

Connor Joyce, Microsoft, Senior User Researcher

In today's competitive digital landscape, successful product development hinges not just on innovation but on the ability to make informed, evidence-based decisions that ensure features are satisfying user needs that align with business objectives. This talk introduces the "Impact Mindset," a revolutionary approach detailed in the book "Bridging Intentions to Impact," which includes an easy to adopt framework and process to guide product teams in redefining success through the lens of user behavior.

Key takeaways will include strategies for creating organic demand for insights within product teams to support informed decision-making and foster collaboration between UX designers, researchers, and product managers. Attendees will learn to define meaningful metrics that go beyond vanity statistics, ensuring that every feature launched drives measurable behavior change and positive user and business impact. Not only a presentation, the audience will be granted a free resource so they can leave the talk ready to apply the insights.

The Impact Mindset approach marks a new era in product development, where success is measured by depth and impact rather than mere usage.

Timoté Geimer, dualoop, CEO

Talking to your users is great. Doing it well is better. We hear every day that you need to speak to your customers to understand their needs and solve their problems. But who really knows how to do this? How to prepare interviews so as not to induce bias? In this session, we will delve into the social sciences and, more specifically, qualitative research to rediscover how to set up a scientifically valid research method. We will discuss the research hypothesis, interview guide, and much more. 

Benjie De Groot, Shipyard, Co Founder

Empowering developers starts with enabling all the internal stake holders frictionless access to WIP features. We will discuss how shortening the internal feedback loop is a key critical aspect of DX. One of the largest contributors to overall efficiency, time to market, and innovation cycles is waiting on product, QA, customer success and C-Suite feedback. When discussing DevEx we must understand the critical role that non-developer stakeholders play in the SDLC and how enabling them speeds up lead time for changes / deployment frequency. DevEx for non developers is critical! 

Mariya Breyter, Amazon, Head of Product Management

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework combined with Agile delivery takes product management to a new level. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have been well-known for decades now, and John Doerr's book on Measuring What Matters became a hit immediately after it was published. However, while OKRs as a concept seem logical and straightforward, many companies struggle with implementing this concept in an aligned and inspirational way. As an Agile practitioner implementing OKRs in multiple large organizations, I experience five major ANTI-PATTERNS that impact product management: 

(1) OKRs are implemented top-down. OKRs are not KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)** which are top-down arbitrary numbers provided by management to each employee at the beginning of a long-term period (usually a year). OKRs are set by teams, not individuals, and aligned with organizational objectives. In that, OKRs are inspirational and encourage teams to set up objectives that motivate them and inspire self-organizing teams to make a difference.

(2) OKRs are used to measure performance and define compensation. Unlike KPIs which are used to measure performance and influence compensation and promotions, OKRs are not related to performance in any way. Numbers are easy to game, and connecting OKRs to performance would negate the purpose of those. OKRs need to be aspirational and hard to achieve, and by doing that, the teams challenge them to continuously grow and become high-performing. This is the reason OKRs are self-graded, not measured by the managers.
OKRs are focused on activities, not results.

(3) Frequently, OKRs are focused on activities or tasks, e.g. providing 100 training sessions, hiring 300 employees, or creating a Playbook covering 50 topics. While sometimes there is a reason for task-based key results, in most cases, the objective is either customer-obsessed (e.g. customer adoption or customer satisfaction), business objective (e.g. revenue growth), employee-related (e.g. retention data), or a related goal. In either case, it forces teams to pivot if the initial set of activities does not bring the intended result and fails forward to pursue the goal.

(4) OKRs need to be measured by managers. OKRs are self-graded by the team that is committed to them. Pre-grading is a helpful technique that allows setting quantifiable success criteria from 0 (not started) to 1 (challenging but possible).

(5) OKRs are assessed at the end of the period for which they are set. OKRs are reviewed at frequent intervals (usually monthly for quarterly or annual OKRs), and it is important to keep in mind that the value of those sessions is not in grades but in alignment and collaboration discussions and outcomes.

We will review the role of AI in the OKR setting and review how AI-based simulations can help set up realistic customer-driven OKRs. Finally, we will discuss OKR implementation and review examples of how OKRs empower teams to self-organize while achieving shared goals within a scaled agile environment.

Learning Outcomes:

We know that mastery, autonomy, and purpose drive our professional satisfaction and create motivation. However, as product managers, we are all motivated by different objectives that may not be aligned with each other's or with organizational goals.

As product managers, how do we create a meaningful alignment of our team's goals, individual aspirations, and company objectives? How do we establish complete transparency across the organization so that at each moment of time anyone would see the same picture and understand how their individual or their team's activities contribute to this shared goal? How do we get a say in what are the objectives and a clear understanding of why they are so important for the whole company?

Participants will leave the workshop with a clear understanding of the process of: (a) how to build a cascading OKR structure within a scaled Agile organization as a product manager with AI and generative testing, (b) how to continuously pivot and self-assess their team's results, and (c) how to align the whole organization while allowing for team-level self-organization.

Surbhi Gupta, Meta, Senior Product Manager
Shalini Dinesh, Walmart, Senior Product Manager
Nupur Jain, Google, Product Manager, Google Deepmind
Shilpa Vir, Coupang, Group Product Manager

In a competitive landscape where businesses must evolve to meet customer demands, and sustain, the reality is up to 70% of strategic initiatives fail due to poor execution, unrealistic goals, or the inability to make timely strategic decisions (Harvard Business Review, 2020). Companies often embark on ambitious projects without clear, actionable roadmaps, leading to wasted resources, missed opportunities, and stalled growth. The disconnect between innovative ideas and actual results is often rooted in a failure to set clear, achievable objectives and align stakeholders across the organization.

This session will present data-driven insights and practical frameworks for crafting roadmaps that transform bold ideas into real results. To gain valuable outcomes, roadmaps must be designed with a focus on prioritizing high-impact initiatives, aligning them with measurable milestones, and ensuring adaptability to respond to evolving market conditions. This approach bridges the gap between aspiration and execution, ensuring that innovation translates into sustained success.

Drawing on research from McKinsey, which shows that companies that define and communicate clear strategies are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers (McKinsey & Company, 2021), we will outline the key steps to ensure strategic alignment, continuous feedback, and measurable outcomes. More details and actionable strategies will be discussed in the session, empowering leaders to move beyond lofty goals and drive meaningful, measurable change.

Jeremy Meiss, DevEx Institute, Developer Experience & Community Leader

Is your team struggling with bugs, inefficient tools, and demoralizing processes? Do you often hear them expressing their frustration with the deployment process and the codebase? Don't worry, this talk is your ticket to transforming your organization's Developer Experience (DevEx) from a disaster zone to a developer utopia.

We'll delve into the what, why, and how of DevEx, exploring practical strategies that will empower you to make your developers' lives easier and more productive. We'll cover everything from tooling and automation to fostering a culture of collaboration and feedback. By the end of this talk, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and practical tips to become a DevEx champion in your organization.

Ivana Ciric, Thoughtworks, Director of Product, Practice
Jose Platero, Air Canada, Director, Digital Product & Design

Over the last few years, Air Canada has navigated significant growth, expanding partnerships, services, and modernizing its tech stack. This journey demanded a radical shift in the product operating model across the organization.

Through sharing our journey, we'll cover how you can:
- Build Scalable Product Teams: The strategies we used to cultivate teams that are equipped to scale rapidly and effectively.
- Drive Innovation Amid Market Realities: How we prepared our teams to adapt and innovate in response to dynamic customer needs and future-proofing our products.
- Prove the Value of Transformation: How we demonstrated the tangible business impact of evolving our product practices to stakeholders.

Andrew Park, Edensoft Labs, Founder & CPO

Imagine if your engineering team could reduce your workload, take ownership of day-to-day development tasks, and free you to focus on strategy, vision, and delivering real value. That’s exactly what Product-Oriented Software Engineering (POSE) offers. Unlike approaches where a single software engineer takes on product responsibilities, POSE transforms all software engineers into Product Engineers who deeply understand both the product’s technical and strategic goals. This unique approach eliminates misalignment, streamlines your workload, and tackles one of the most pressing challenges for Product Managers: burnout.
 
As a Product Manager, you may find yourself buried under tactical responsibilities like writing user stories, maintaining backlogs, prioritizing tasks, resolving misalignments, and monitoring dependencies. POSE can help you shed these burdens. Many of these responsibilities either disappear altogether or are shifted to Product Engineers. Misalignment issues decrease significantly because Product Engineers internalize the product vision and align their work accordingly, reducing the need for constant oversight. Similarly, operational responsibilities like refining requirements, managing day-to-day execution, and providing Level-of-Effort (LOE) estimates are taken on by Product Engineers, freeing you to focus on the strategic aspects of your role.
 
Teresa Torres’ vision of the “Product Trio” (Product Manager, Designer, and Engineer) is a powerful framework for collaboration that ensures alignment and effective communication. POSE makes this vision highly attainable because a Product Engineer (designated as a Flex Engineer) has a #1 priority responsibility to be available for collaboration at a moment’s notice. While not exclusively dedicated to collaboration, this prioritization effectively mimics dedicated availability, enabling seamless support for product discovery, design discussions, LOE estimates, and execution planning. This minimizes delays, reduces friction, and allows the Product Trio to work together efficiently toward shared goals.
 
How POSE Can Help You as a Product Manager:
   •       Eliminates some responsibilities altogether: Misalignment issues, repetitive micromanagement, and redundant oversight diminish as Product Engineers fully align with the product vision and execute autonomously.
   •       Shifts operational responsibilities: Tasks like refining requirements, tracking progress, resolving technical dependencies, and providing LOE estimates move to Product Engineers, reducing your cognitive load.
   •       Frees time for strategy: With fewer tactical demands, you can focus on vision-setting, market analysis, and high-impact decision-making.
   •       Improves collaboration: A shared understanding of the product vision ensures smooth communication and alignment across teams.
 
This approach isn’t theoretical—it’s a proven methodology that has been implemented and refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies. POSE can help you, as a Product Manager, lead large, complex efforts with less friction, fewer misalignments, and greater success. It offers a clear path to reducing burnout and enhancing your focus on strategic leadership, enabling you to thrive in your role.
 
Join this session to learn how POSE can transform your role as a Product Manager by lightening your workload, amplifying your strategic impact, and giving you the space to thrive. Let’s unlock the full potential of your teams and deliver better products—together.
 

Chris Butler, GitHub, Product Manager

Culture change is a formidable challenge for any organization, requiring a strategic approach to align values and behaviors across teams.

This presentation focuses on the pivotal role of product operations in driving and sustaining culture change through value alignment.

Attendees will explore how product operations serves as a linchpin for translating organizational values into actionable strategies, processes, and behaviors.

From fostering collaboration and accountability to promoting transparency and continuous improvement, join us to discover how product operations can navigate and lead culture change initiatives with precision and impact.

Michael Mace, UserTesting, VP Market Strategy

The idea of failing fast has become so central to Agile development that it’s almost a religious belief. It’s been the subject of countless articles and even full books. According to Google Trends, the phrase “fail fast” has been on the rise since late 2009.

We’ve become so focused on the “fail fast” mantra that it’s easy to forget that the goal of failing fast isn’t actually to fail; it’s to maximize your speed of learning, so you can evolve a better product quickly. Back when cloud computing first appeared, deploying software was so fast and customer research so slow that it made sense to try things and see what worked rather than waiting months to do a research study.

But today the situation has changed. Through fast feedback products, you can now get customer feedback almost instantly on virtually any idea or experience —within a sprint, without waiting to ship it.

In this session we'll give specifics on how product teams are using fast feedback to make higher-confidence decisions without slowing down the agile process -- reducing rework and increasing customer satisfaction. We'll give real-world examples and practical advice based on UserTesting's own processes, plus examples from other companies.

Ajit Ghuman, Monetizely, CEO

Pricing strategy can be the difference between growth and stagnation for SaaS companies. Drawing on examples from Twilio, Zoom, and Medallia, Ajit Ghuman will guide participants through the process of building a robust pricing model that aligns with business goals. This session will cover key aspects of pricing such as selecting the right metrics, avoiding common packaging pitfalls, and designing flexible, scalable pricing structures. Whether your company is pre-IPO or scaling post-IPO, this session will provide critical insights into how the best SaaS companies price and package their products. 

Lakshmi Sowjanya Uppala, Amazon, Senior Technical Program Manager

Have you ever had to come up with a product strategy for an area which is already functioning well, critical to business/your organization and involves tools/services used by different stakeholders who are all measuring successfully? If yes, this session is for you.

I will share my personal experience of building a product strategy and roadmap impacting billions of transactions done and products sold on Amazon, involving multiple stakeholder teams with conflicting success metrics by starting from users, jobs to be done and product value curves. This is practical for large- and small-scale products equally and enables creation of multi-year product roadmaps with incremental wins to users and business value.

Andrew Schall, ServiceNow, UX Research Leader & Strategist

Allowing organizational fortunetellers to create a future state vision of a journey map is risky because their projections are often based on speculation, intuition, and vague aspirations rather than concrete data and a deep understanding of the current state.

The journey from the current state to the optimal future state can be envisioned as constructing a long metaphorical bridge. This bridge is supported by various foundational pillars, each representing a critical aspect of the progression. These pillars provide the necessary support for incremental solutions to realize the optimal future state.

In this session, you will delve into envisioning an ideal user experience by creating a future state journey map. You will learn how to ground your future state journey map in current realities based on data and user research, ensuring that solutions are practical, actionable, and directly address identified pain points. By following this structured, evidence-based methodology, organizations can successfully navigate the journey from the current state to the future state, building a robust bridge to support ongoing progress, innovation, and adaptation.

Rishiraj Pravahan, Google, Product Manager

This talk will explore how a technology capability can be transformed into a product. The talk will focus on what it means to have a product view of a technical capability and how to reason about a particular tech as a product. The talk will use examples from my experience of working on AI infrastructure to highlight the product point of view while discussing its challenges and advantages.
 

Chris Butler, GitHub, Product Manager

Today everyone is asking the question: "how can I use AI in my product?" The issue is not asking the question about leveraging new technological innovation but how we have the conversation between the technical people that know about it and those that want to leverage it to create great products.

In this talk, Chris Butler will show you how to have better conversations between those different practices in your teams. This will focus on a particular workshop called Analogical Innovation Mapping that is rooted in how new technologies find new uses based on their characteristics.

Connor Joyce, Microsoft, Senior User Researcher

In today's competitive digital landscape, successful product development hinges not just on innovation but on the ability to make informed, evidence-based decisions that ensure features are satisfying user needs that align with business objectives. This talk introduces the "Impact Mindset," a revolutionary approach detailed in the book "Bridging Intentions to Impact," which includes an easy to adopt framework and process to guide product teams in redefining success through the lens of user behavior.

Key takeaways will include strategies for creating organic demand for insights within product teams to support informed decision-making and foster collaboration between UX designers, researchers, and product managers. Attendees will learn to define meaningful metrics that go beyond vanity statistics, ensuring that every feature launched drives measurable behavior change and positive user and business impact. Not only a presentation, the audience will be granted a free resource so they can leave the talk ready to apply the insights.

The Impact Mindset approach marks a new era in product development, where success is measured by depth and impact rather than mere usage.

Timoté Geimer, dualoop, CEO

Talking to your users is great. Doing it well is better. We hear every day that you need to speak to your customers to understand their needs and solve their problems. But who really knows how to do this? How to prepare interviews so as not to induce bias? In this session, we will delve into the social sciences and, more specifically, qualitative research to rediscover how to set up a scientifically valid research method. We will discuss the research hypothesis, interview guide, and much more. 

Benjie De Groot, Shipyard, Co Founder

Empowering developers starts with enabling all the internal stake holders frictionless access to WIP features. We will discuss how shortening the internal feedback loop is a key critical aspect of DX. One of the largest contributors to overall efficiency, time to market, and innovation cycles is waiting on product, QA, customer success and C-Suite feedback. When discussing DevEx we must understand the critical role that non-developer stakeholders play in the SDLC and how enabling them speeds up lead time for changes / deployment frequency. DevEx for non developers is critical! 

Mariya Breyter, Amazon, Head of Product Management

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework combined with Agile delivery takes product management to a new level. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have been well-known for decades now, and John Doerr's book on Measuring What Matters became a hit immediately after it was published. However, while OKRs as a concept seem logical and straightforward, many companies struggle with implementing this concept in an aligned and inspirational way. As an Agile practitioner implementing OKRs in multiple large organizations, I experience five major ANTI-PATTERNS that impact product management: 

(1) OKRs are implemented top-down. OKRs are not KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)** which are top-down arbitrary numbers provided by management to each employee at the beginning of a long-term period (usually a year). OKRs are set by teams, not individuals, and aligned with organizational objectives. In that, OKRs are inspirational and encourage teams to set up objectives that motivate them and inspire self-organizing teams to make a difference.

(2) OKRs are used to measure performance and define compensation. Unlike KPIs which are used to measure performance and influence compensation and promotions, OKRs are not related to performance in any way. Numbers are easy to game, and connecting OKRs to performance would negate the purpose of those. OKRs need to be aspirational and hard to achieve, and by doing that, the teams challenge them to continuously grow and become high-performing. This is the reason OKRs are self-graded, not measured by the managers.
OKRs are focused on activities, not results.

(3) Frequently, OKRs are focused on activities or tasks, e.g. providing 100 training sessions, hiring 300 employees, or creating a Playbook covering 50 topics. While sometimes there is a reason for task-based key results, in most cases, the objective is either customer-obsessed (e.g. customer adoption or customer satisfaction), business objective (e.g. revenue growth), employee-related (e.g. retention data), or a related goal. In either case, it forces teams to pivot if the initial set of activities does not bring the intended result and fails forward to pursue the goal.

(4) OKRs need to be measured by managers. OKRs are self-graded by the team that is committed to them. Pre-grading is a helpful technique that allows setting quantifiable success criteria from 0 (not started) to 1 (challenging but possible).

(5) OKRs are assessed at the end of the period for which they are set. OKRs are reviewed at frequent intervals (usually monthly for quarterly or annual OKRs), and it is important to keep in mind that the value of those sessions is not in grades but in alignment and collaboration discussions and outcomes.

We will review the role of AI in the OKR setting and review how AI-based simulations can help set up realistic customer-driven OKRs. Finally, we will discuss OKR implementation and review examples of how OKRs empower teams to self-organize while achieving shared goals within a scaled agile environment.

Learning Outcomes:

We know that mastery, autonomy, and purpose drive our professional satisfaction and create motivation. However, as product managers, we are all motivated by different objectives that may not be aligned with each other's or with organizational goals.

As product managers, how do we create a meaningful alignment of our team's goals, individual aspirations, and company objectives? How do we establish complete transparency across the organization so that at each moment of time anyone would see the same picture and understand how their individual or their team's activities contribute to this shared goal? How do we get a say in what are the objectives and a clear understanding of why they are so important for the whole company?

Participants will leave the workshop with a clear understanding of the process of: (a) how to build a cascading OKR structure within a scaled Agile organization as a product manager with AI and generative testing, (b) how to continuously pivot and self-assess their team's results, and (c) how to align the whole organization while allowing for team-level self-organization.

Surbhi Gupta, Meta, Senior Product Manager
Shalini Dinesh, Walmart, Senior Product Manager
Nupur Jain, Google, Product Manager, Google Deepmind
Shilpa Vir, Coupang, Group Product Manager 



In a competitive landscape where businesses must evolve to meet customer demands, and sustain, the reality is up to 70% of strategic initiatives fail due to poor execution, unrealistic goals, or the inability to make timely strategic decisions (Harvard Business Review, 2020). Companies often embark on ambitious projects without clear, actionable roadmaps, leading to wasted resources, missed opportunities, and stalled growth. The disconnect between innovative ideas and actual results is often rooted in a failure to set clear, achievable objectives and align stakeholders across the organization.

This session will present data-driven insights and practical frameworks for crafting roadmaps that transform bold ideas into real results. To gain valuable outcomes, roadmaps must be designed with a focus on prioritizing high-impact initiatives, aligning them with measurable milestones, and ensuring adaptability to respond to evolving market conditions. This approach bridges the gap between aspiration and execution, ensuring that innovation translates into sustained success.

Drawing on research from McKinsey, which shows that companies that define and communicate clear strategies are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers (McKinsey & Company, 2021), we will outline the key steps to ensure strategic alignment, continuous feedback, and measurable outcomes. More details and actionable strategies will be discussed in the session, empowering leaders to move beyond lofty goals and drive meaningful, measurable change.

Jeremy Meiss, DevEx Institute, Developer Experience & Community Leader

Is your team struggling with bugs, inefficient tools, and demoralizing processes? Do you often hear them expressing their frustration with the deployment process and the codebase? Don't worry, this talk is your ticket to transforming your organization's Developer Experience (DevEx) from a disaster zone to a developer utopia.

We'll delve into the what, why, and how of DevEx, exploring practical strategies that will empower you to make your developers' lives easier and more productive. We'll cover everything from tooling and automation to fostering a culture of collaboration and feedback. By the end of this talk, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and practical tips to become a DevEx champion in your organization.

Ivana Ciric, Thoughtworks, Director of Product, Practice
Jose Platero, Air Canada, Director, Digital Product & Design

Over the last few years,  Air Canada has navigated significant growth, expanding partnerships, services, and modernizing its tech stack. This journey demanded a radical shift in the product operating model across the organization.

Through sharing our journey, we'll cover how you can:
- Build Scalable Product Teams: The strategies we used to cultivate teams that are equipped to scale rapidly and effectively.
- Drive Innovation Amid Market Realities: How we prepared our teams to adapt and innovate in response to dynamic customer needs and future-proofing our products.
- Prove the Value of Transformation: How we demonstrated the tangible business impact of evolving our product practices to stakeholders.

Andrew Park, Edensoft Labs, Founder & CPO

IImagine if your engineering team could reduce your workload, take ownership of day-to-day development tasks, and free you to focus on strategy, vision, and delivering real value. That’s exactly what Product-Oriented Software Engineering (POSE) offers. Unlike approaches where a single software engineer takes on product responsibilities, POSE transforms all software engineers into Product Engineers who deeply understand both the product’s technical and strategic goals. This unique approach eliminates misalignment, streamlines your workload, and tackles one of the most pressing challenges for Product Managers: burnout.
 
As a Product Manager, you may find yourself buried under tactical responsibilities like writing user stories, maintaining backlogs, prioritizing tasks, resolving misalignments, and monitoring dependencies. POSE can help you shed these burdens. Many of these responsibilities either disappear altogether or are shifted to Product Engineers. Misalignment issues decrease significantly because Product Engineers internalize the product vision and align their work accordingly, reducing the need for constant oversight. Similarly, operational responsibilities like refining requirements, managing day-to-day execution, and providing Level-of-Effort (LOE) estimates are taken on by Product Engineers, freeing you to focus on the strategic aspects of your role.
 
Teresa Torres’ vision of the “Product Trio” (Product Manager, Designer, and Engineer) is a powerful framework for collaboration that ensures alignment and effective communication. POSE makes this vision highly attainable because a Product Engineer (designated as a Flex Engineer) has a #1 priority responsibility to be available for collaboration at a moment’s notice. While not exclusively dedicated to collaboration, this prioritization effectively mimics dedicated availability, enabling seamless support for product discovery, design discussions, LOE estimates, and execution planning. This minimizes delays, reduces friction, and allows the Product Trio to work together efficiently toward shared goals.
 
How POSE Can Help You as a Product Manager:
   •       Eliminates some responsibilities altogether: Misalignment issues, repetitive micromanagement, and redundant oversight diminish as Product Engineers fully align with the product vision and execute autonomously.
   •       Shifts operational responsibilities: Tasks like refining requirements, tracking progress, resolving technical dependencies, and providing LOE estimates move to Product Engineers, reducing your cognitive load.
   •       Frees time for strategy: With fewer tactical demands, you can focus on vision-setting, market analysis, and high-impact decision-making.
   •       Improves collaboration: A shared understanding of the product vision ensures smooth communication and alignment across teams.
 
This approach isn’t theoretical—it’s a proven methodology that has been implemented and refined over nearly two decades at G3 Technologies. POSE can help you, as a Product Manager, lead large, complex efforts with less friction, fewer misalignments, and greater success. It offers a clear path to reducing burnout and enhancing your focus on strategic leadership, enabling you to thrive in your role.
 
Join this session to learn how POSE can transform your role as a Product Manager by lightening your workload, amplifying your strategic impact, and giving you the space to thrive. Let’s unlock the full potential of your teams and deliver better products—together.
 

Chris Butler, GitHub, Product Manager

Culture change is a formidable challenge for any organization, requiring a strategic approach to align values and behaviors across teams.

This presentation focuses on the pivotal role of product operations in driving and sustaining culture change through value alignment.

Attendees will explore how product operations serves as a linchpin for translating organizational values into actionable strategies, processes, and behaviors.

From fostering collaboration and accountability to promoting transparency and continuous improvement, join us to discover how product operations can navigate and lead culture change initiatives with precision and impact.

Michael Mace, UserTesting, VP Market Strategy

The idea of failing fast has become so central to Agile development that it’s almost a religious belief. It’s been the subject of countless articles and even full books. According to Google Trends, the phrase “fail fast” has been on the rise since late 2009.

We’ve become so focused on the “fail fast” mantra that it’s easy to forget that the goal of failing fast isn’t actually to fail; it’s to maximize your speed of learning, so you can evolve a better product quickly. Back when cloud computing first appeared, deploying software was so fast and customer research so slow that it made sense to try things and see what worked rather than waiting months to do a research study.

But today the situation has changed. Through fast feedback products, you can now get customer feedback almost instantly on virtually any idea or experience —within a sprint, without waiting to ship it.

In this session we'll give specifics on how product teams are using fast feedback to make higher-confidence decisions without slowing down the agile process -- reducing rework and increasing customer satisfaction. We'll give real-world examples and practical advice based on UserTesting's own processes, plus examples from other companies.

Ajit Ghuman, Monetizely, CEO

Pricing strategy can be the difference between growth and stagnation for SaaS companies. Drawing on examples from Twilio, Zoom, and Medallia, Ajit Ghuman will guide participants through the process of building a robust pricing model that aligns with business goals. This session will cover key aspects of pricing such as selecting the right metrics, avoiding common packaging pitfalls, and designing flexible, scalable pricing structures. Whether your company is pre-IPO or scaling post-IPO, this session will provide critical insights into how the best SaaS companies price and package their products.