<![CDATA[Products That Count]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.orghttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CK4r!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fde8101-d37f-497f-9fa8-1de61ed713ca_1080x1080.pngProducts That Counthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.orgSubstackTue, 07 Jul 2026 22:14:16 GMT<![CDATA[Brainlabs CPO on the End of the Technical Moat]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/brainlabs-cpo-on-the-end-of-the-technicalhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/brainlabs-cpo-on-the-end-of-the-technicalMon, 06 Jul 2026 18:23:26 GMTWhat happens to product leadership when anyone in the company can build? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Digitalzone CPO Sonjoy Ganguly, Brainlabs CPO Adam Edwards will be speaking on how AI is eroding the technical moat and elevating judgment and scalability as the new competitive advantages for product leaders. He also shares how his team built a triad governance structure to democratize AI-building across a thousand-person ad agency without losing control of quality or client outcomes.

]]><![CDATA[Inside AI's Transformation of the Physical Economy with Motive]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/inside-ais-transformation-of-thehttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/inside-ais-transformation-of-theFri, 03 Jul 2026 09:38:31 GMTWhat does it take to build AI when failure means someone gets hurt? In this episode of the CPO Rising series, hosted by CentralSquare Technologies CPO Denise Hemke, Motive CTO Amish Babu will be speaking on the unique engineering and product challenges of building AI for the physical economy fleets, construction sites, and high-stakes environments where milliseconds matter and hallucinations aren't a product flaw, they're a safety crisis. He also shares how Motive's AI dash cam has helped prevent over 170,000 accidents since 2023 and what SaaS product leaders consistently get wrong about building for the physical world.

]]><![CDATA[20% optimization is not enough]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/20-optimization-is-not-enoughhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/20-optimization-is-not-enoughWed, 01 Jul 2026 18:57:54 GMTIn our fifth annual CPO Insights Report, I found something that every CPO should be thinking about: a 20% efficiency gain from AI is no longer enough. And yet that’s exactly where most product organizations are aiming.

AI is a disruptive technology. I’m talking about 4-10x productivity gains, not incremental improvement. The only way I’ve seen teams get there is through integration. That means cross-functional teams unified under the CPO, with product builders who own end-to-end responsibility across the full development lifecycle. Not product over here, engineering over there, and design somewhere else.

Incremental thinking might get you 20%, but integrated thinking gets you 4x. The CPOs I see pulling ahead are redesigning the org structure entirely.

I want to hear where you stand on this. Share this on LinkedIn, tag me, and tell me: is your org still thinking in silos, or have you made the shift?

Know a VP, Sr. Director, or Head of Product who’s setting the standard? Nominations are open for the Product Leader Awards, our recognition for the people who lead product teams. Winners join me for an in-person VIP celebration this September. Click the banner above to nominate.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Rakuten Rewards CPO on Human Judgment in the AI Era]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-rakuten-rewardshttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-rakuten-rewardsWed, 01 Jul 2026 13:41:09 GMTWhat does it mean to govern a decision model instead of a roadmap? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Jay Patel, Rakuten Rewards CPO Nilesh Khandelwal will be speaking on how AI is shifting the product leader's job from execution management to decision architecture. He also shares his three-bucket prioritization framework, the concept of "glues" as a retention lever, and why saying no to guaranteed revenue is sometimes the most strategic move a CPO can make.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: The Product Engineer Is Coming for Every Team]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-the-product-engineerhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-the-product-engineerMon, 29 Jun 2026 09:28:01 GMT

]]><![CDATA[The builders who'll lead next]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-builders-wholl-lead-nexthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-builders-wholl-lead-nextWed, 24 Jun 2026 19:45:33 GMTMany great product leaders I know started as builders no one knew. They did important work, but the recognition usually came late.

That's the gap I want to close with the Product Builder Awards. They recognize the individual contributors driving product forward: the PMs, Sr. PMs, and Group PMs setting the pace for what comes next, before they ever lead a team. A nomination here is a public endorsement that opens doors. And like all of our awards, nominating and participating is completely free.

So here’s my ask, and it has two parts. First, take two minutes to nominate a builder who deserves to be seen. Second, forward this email to a PM you’d hire or a leader whose team is pulling ahead.

The leaders we celebrate next decade are the builders we recognize today. And if that builder is you, nominate yourself. Early-career humility is admirable, but invisibility isn’t a strategy.

Nominate a Product Builder

Know a VP, Sr. Director, or Head of Product who’s setting the standard? Nominations are also open for the Product Leader Awards, our recognition for the people who lead product teams. Winners join me for an in-person VIP celebration this September. Click the banner above to nominate.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Why Remix AI's Former CPO Pressed Pause on Leadership to Build Again]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-why-remix-ais-formerhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-why-remix-ais-formerWed, 24 Jun 2026 18:15:30 GMTWhat does it mean when a seasoned CPO with experience at Disney, Apple, Airbnb, and Walmart.com walks away from the C-suite to go build products by himself? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, former Remix AI co-founder and CPO Kevin Swint speaks on why this moment in AI demanded that kind of move, what he learned building an agentic application in two weeks that would have taken a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars before, and why the feedback loop between domain expert and builder has collapsed in a way that changes everything. From tourist behavior in AI products to the fundamentals of stickiness that never change, Kevin brings 25 years of hard-won perspective to the most exciting moment in product history.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Vercel CPO on Why Judgment Is the Last Real Moat]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-vercel-cpo-on-whyhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-vercel-cpo-on-whyMon, 22 Jun 2026 10:31:59 GMTWhat happens when the cost of building software trends toward zero? When anyone can ship anything at any time, code stops being the competitive advantage. In this episode of the CPO Rising series, hosted by CentralSquare Technologies CPO Denise Hemke, Vercel CPO Tom Occhino speaks on what the moat actually looks like in an AI native world, why he shifted from roadmap curator to market interpreter and narrative builder, and what it took to build a culture where reliability and innovation do not fight each other but feed each other. From inventing Facebook mentions to creating React to scaling Vercel's self-driving infrastructure, Tom brings a rare engineering-first perspective on what product leadership is becoming.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Salesforce EVP & GM on AI Adoption, Team Culture, and the New Rules of Product Leadership]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-salesforce-evphttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-salesforce-evpFri, 19 Jun 2026 09:06:53 GMTWhat happens when the pace of AI makes even the most recent college graduate's knowledge obsolete within six months? In this episode of the CPO Rising series, hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Salesforce EVP and GM of Agentforce Service Kishan Chetan speaks on what it really takes to drive AI adoption at scale, why adoption is fundamentally a social phenomenon, and how he thinks about product success through one simple lens: do customers buy it, use it, and love it? Leading a product line approaching $10 billion in revenue, Kishan brings a grounded, practical perspective on what the best product leaders are doing right now to stay ahead of a world that will not slow down for anyone.

]]><![CDATA[How Syntheseed CPO Is Rethinking Product Leadership in Real Time]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/how-syntheseed-cpo-is-rethinkinghttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/how-syntheseed-cpo-is-rethinkingWed, 17 Jun 2026 17:08:25 GMTWhat if the strategy you just shipped is already obsolete? In this episode of Product Talk hosted by Digitalzone CPO Sonjoy Ganguly, Syntheseed CPO Sam Somashekar speaks on what it means to lead product in an era where the pace of change has outrun the annual planning cycle, AI is generating strategies that all sound the same, and the pressure to experiment is pulling leaders further from the strategic thinking they were hired to do. Sam and Sanjay explore why the human element is more important than ever, how shared KPIs across functions unlock real alignment, and what product leaders need to stop doing right now.

]]><![CDATA[AI solved the build problem. Now what?]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/ai-solved-the-build-problem-now-whathttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/ai-solved-the-build-problem-now-whatWed, 17 Jun 2026 15:26:27 GMTEveryone in product is talking about speed right now. AI has compressed what used to take months into days. The build problem feels largely solved, but the bottleneck has moved.

I’ve spent a lot of time talking with CPOs this year, and one theme keeps coming up: the teams pulling ahead are getting to market faster. That’s why GTM speed came up as the #1 concern in our latest CPO Insights Report. Most go-to-market motions were designed for a different era. Traditional marketing channels and many PLG playbooks weren’t built for a world where products can be created and iterated at AI speed.

The companies pulling ahead are using AI-driven workflows to shorten the distance between “we built it” and “customers are using it.” If your team has accelerated how fast it builds, but your go-to-market motion looks largely the same as it did two years ago, that’s worth paying attention to.

And if this sparked something for you, it might do the same for a product leader in your network. Forward it along to someone who inspires your product thinking.

We are currently accepting applications for our Q2 Advisory Councils. If you’re a senior product leader and you’d like to get involved, click the banner above.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: Comcast Product SVP on Rewiring the Entire Product Lifecycle for AI]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-comcast-producthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-comcast-productMon, 15 Jun 2026 11:35:27 GMTWhat happens when software powers every customer-facing interaction a business has, from the app to the agent interface to the care experience? Everything becomes a product. In this episode of the CPO Rising series, hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Comcast SVP of Connected Living Products Randall Hounsell speaks on what it means to lead product at one of the most complex consumer technology ecosystems in the world. Randall shares why data-driven is misunderstood, how he is rewiring Comcast's entire product lifecycle to be AI-first, and why vision and strategy are the most durable skills a product leader has in a world where everything else is changing fast.

]]><![CDATA[OpenTable Product SVP on The Three Things Great PMs Have That You Cannot Coach]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/opentable-product-svp-on-the-threehttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/opentable-product-svp-on-the-threeFri, 12 Jun 2026 11:14:22 GMTWhat separates a good product manager from a great one, and can you actually spot it in an interview? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Axiom Law CPO Katrina Benjamin, OpenTable SVP of Product Shayani Roy speaks on the three qualities she hires for above everything else, why the CPO role is fundamentally shifting from people management to doing, and what it means to build products for an industry as creative and relationship-driven as restaurants. With 60,000 restaurants and 1.9 billion diners annually, OpenTable's approach to AI, velocity, and innovation offers a masterclass in how to move fast without losing focus.

]]><![CDATA[Who's setting the standard in product leadership?]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/whos-setting-the-standard-in-producthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/whos-setting-the-standard-in-productWed, 10 Jun 2026 16:25:18 GMT

When I started Products That Count, I believed that product leaders were among the most undervalued people in tech, doing the hardest cross-functional work with the least recognition. Years and thousands of conversations later, I’m even more convinced. The best product leaders I meet are heads-down and rarely making the case for themselves.

That’s why we created the Product Leader Awards. They’re designed to recognize the VPs, Sr. Directors, and Heads of Product who are setting the standard for our field. A nomination is a meaningful endorsement for a person and for the discipline. And because this is about recognition, nominating and participating is completely free.

This year’s winners will join me for an in-person VIP celebration this September. It’s an intimate room, full of the kind of people who become each other’s next reference, hire, or friend.

So here’s my ask: take two minutes to nominate a product leader who’s setting the bar. And if that person is you, nominate yourself. Let’s make sure the leaders moving our industry forward actually get seen for it.

Nominate an outstanding product leader

We are currently accepting applications for our Q2 Advisory Councils. If you’re a senior product leader and you’d like to get involved, click the banner above.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[Kit Switch CEO on Productizing Sustainable Housing with Low-Carbon Interior Design]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/kitswitch-ceo-on-productizing-sustainablehttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/kitswitch-ceo-on-productizing-sustainableWed, 10 Jun 2026 11:06:58 GMTWhat does it actually take to decarbonize the built environment, and can construction be reimagined fast enough to matter? 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 Armelle Coutant, CEO & Co-Founder of Kit Switch, to discuss enabling decarbonization through electrified and low-waste interior systems, productizing construction for speed and scalability, as well as navigating a complex, slow-moving industry through strategic pilots and ecosystem partnerships.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: How Planned Parenthood Direct CPO Builds Products Under Pressure]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-planned-parenthoodhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-planned-parenthoodMon, 08 Jun 2026 11:49:33 GMTWhat does it mean to ship products when a wrong decision does not just hurt conversion rates but puts patients at risk? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Jay Patel, Planned Parenthood Direct CPO Hannah Park speaks on what it really takes to lead product in one of the most politically volatile and privacy-sensitive environments in healthcare. Hannah shares how she thinks about trust as a non-negotiable design constraint, why her team has deliberately held off on bringing AI into the patient experience, and how she builds teams that can make good decisions without waiting for permission when the regulatory ground shifts overnight.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: How Treasure AI CPO Is Rewriting the Rules of Product Leadership]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-treasure-aihttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-treasure-aiFri, 05 Jun 2026 12:36:57 GMTWhat if the biggest bottleneck in your product organization is no longer engineering capacity or even go to market speed, but change management? In this episode of the CPO Rising series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Jay Patel, Treasure AI CPO Rafa Flores speaks on how the role of product leadership has fundamentally changed, why the "ship perfect" mindset is now a liability, and what it actually looks like to build an AI native product culture that keeps human judgment at the center. From his journey immigrating from Honduras to leading product at a global agentic AI platform, Rafa brings a rare combination of personal conviction and technical fluency to one of the most honest conversations we have had about what great product leadership looks like right now.

]]><![CDATA[The rise of the Product Builder]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-rise-of-the-product-builderhttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/the-rise-of-the-product-builderWed, 03 Jun 2026 17:19:46 GMTLast week we shared the 2026 CPO Insights findings. Now, the CPO Rising podcast series is back for year five, and it kicks off with an exciting prediction about where the best product leaders are headed.

This year, Renee Niemi and I are calling the emergence of the product builder: a new kind of product leader doing the work of twelve, with 20x the business impact. The PM title is evolving into something far more powerful. Renee has already spoken to 1,500 CPOs this year, and the best ones are already making the shift.

This conversation is the first episode of the 2026 CPO Rising Series. From there, you’ll hear directly from this year’s CPO award winners, each one showing what great product leadership actually looks like right now. Tune in to our kickoff episode below, and subscribe to Product Talk on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts so you don’t miss any of the insights to come.

Dive into the CPO Rising Podcast Series

Are you in San Francisco? Click the banner above to request your invite to our exclusive executive roundtable on clean, business-ready data and AI ROI. Off-the-record, invite-only, and hosted at a private speakeasy ten minutes from Moscone.

Check out some of our recent content from top voices in the product space.

Are you enjoying our Product newsletter? We are always striving to elevate our content and provide ample value. Please share your feedback, questions, and comments.

]]><![CDATA[CPO Rising Series: How Aliaswire CPO Is Betting on the Future of Payments]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-aliaswire-cpohttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/cpo-rising-series-how-aliaswire-cpoWed, 03 Jun 2026 11:12:51 GMTWhat if the biggest constraint on your product organization is no longer engineering capacity but the speed and quality of your decisions? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Jay Patel, Aliaswire CPO Nirmal Kumar speaks on how the CPO role has fundamentally shifted in the age of AI, what a disciplined layered bets framework actually looks like in practice, and why the future of payments is invisible, embedded, and intelligent. Drawing on nearly two decades at a Boston fintech he helped found, Nirmal brings a rare combination of engineering depth and product leadership to a conversation about building platforms that multiply, making calculated bets with real kill criteria, and transforming a team without leaving anyone behind.

]]><![CDATA[How AI Is Reshaping Enterprise Product Leadership]]>https://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/how-ai-is-reshaping-enterprise-producthttps://newsletter.productsthatcount.org/p/how-ai-is-reshaping-enterprise-productFri, 29 May 2026 17:40:57 GMTIs your organization losing 7% of its annual revenue to complexity? In this podcast hosted by Boston New Technology CPO Shweta Agrawal, Freshworks Chief Product Officer Srini Raghavan will be speaking on how AI-native tools are transforming IT and customer service operations, and what it really takes to scale AI responsibly in the enterprise. Drawing on his experience leading product at Freshworks, RingCentral, and Five9, Srini shares the frameworks, real customer stories, and mindset shifts that separate product leaders who scale from those who stall.

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