Successful products don’t happen in a vacuum. Hosted by Hannah Clark, Editor of The Product Manager, this show takes a 360º view of product through the perspectives of those in the inner circle, outer perimeter, and fringes of the product management process. If you manage, design, develop, or market products, expect candid and actionable insights that can guide you through every stage of the product life cycle.
How to Control the Chaos of a Multi-Product Portfolio
What happens when a single-product company decides to build a second—or a third—without unraveling the success of the first? The leap from one product to many rarely doubles the complexity; it multiplies it. Product leaders suddenly face sharper trade-offs: when to place bold bets, how to allocate finite resources, and how to distinguish between transformational expansion and slow erosion of a hard-won core. The challenge isn’t just growth—it’s protecting what already works while building what’s next. Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, brings hard-earned perspective from leading a portfolio spanning data protection, cyber recovery, and identity resilience, and from helping scale LiveRamp from an early-stage startup into a data connectivity leader. She shares the practical frameworks she uses to stack rank investments, the hidden cost of starving the core business in pursuit of innovation, and the lessons behind an acquisition that fell short of expectations yet unlocked unexpected opportunity. The result is a candid look at portfolio strategy in the real world—where focus, discipline, and clarity of intent matter more than ambition alone. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Anneka: LinkedIn Rubrik
How to Use an Operations Mindset to Scale Product Delivery
Finding product–market fit isn’t the finish line—it’s base camp. In this episode, Hannah Clark sits down with Amit Shah, COO of Virta Health, to unpack what really happens after you’ve “made it” and the mountain suddenly gets steeper. Virta is scaling a fully virtual metabolic health clinic in a fast-moving healthcare landscape, and Amit brings a rare perspective shaped by nearly a decade inside the company—and a career that started in operations, not product. Amit shares how Virta navigated rapid growth while building a scalable product organization, why simplicity becomes harder (not easier) as you scale, and how they make deliberate choices about where humans add the most value versus where AI should step in. If you’re wrestling with org design, prioritization, tech debt, or the ethics of AI in real-world products, this conversation offers a grounded look at what it takes to scale without losing your north star. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Amit on LinkedIn Check out Virta Health
The 2026 Playbook for Leading AI-Native Products
AI has collapsed the gap between idea and execution—but standing out in a flood of generative tools requires more than just speed. Product leaders now face a different kind of challenge: evaluating opportunities with sharper questions, building for users with evolving expectations, and navigating distribution channels that look nothing like they did a year ago. Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow, joins Hannah to unpack what it really takes to ship differentiated, production-ready AI products in a crowded market. Drawing from her experience leading product at Dropbox and now building an AI-native digital experience platform, Rachel shares how she approaches defensibility, user segmentation, AEO, and when to buy versus build. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn and Twitter/X Check out Webflow
Best of The Product Manager Podcast in 2025
Welcome to 2026! In this special retrospective episode, host Hannah Clark is joined by producer Becca Banyard to unpack the biggest themes, standout insights, and most listened-to moments from the past year. Together, they reflect on what made 2025 such a pivotal year in product—where AI reigned, volatility was the norm, and the role of product leadership was stretched in new directions. This episode is both a reflection and a guide. Hannah and Becca break down what they learned from conversations with CPOs, founders, researchers, and consultants who all shared one thing in common: navigating change while building great products. Whether you’re a seasoned exec, a leader on the rise, or somewhere in between, this wrap-up points you to the episodes you shouldn’t miss—and gives a preview of where the conversation is headed in 2026. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Referenced Episodes & Guests to Revisit: Finding Your Unfair Advantage in Product’s Wild West Era with Margaret-Ann Seger How Did This CPO Pull Off 350% Growth in Two Years?! with Benjamin Berry The Nuances of Product Leadership No One Talks About with Debbie McMahon How to Adapt to the New Gold Standard in Product Management with Dr. Maryam Ashoori The Product Leader’s Guide to Buyer Psychology with Chris Silvestri The New Exec Playbook: Your Most Important First Moves in Your First Executive Role with Yue Zhao Are We Overpromising and Under-delivering on AI? with Dhruv Batra Why It’s So Hard to Adopt New Skills with Maxine Anderson The Systems Thinking Process Used by the Most Adaptable Product Leaders with Sheryl Cababa
Are We Overpromising and Under-delivering on AI?
AI can solve Olympic-level math problems... and still fumble basic arithmetic. So what gives? According to Dhruv Batra, the answer lies in the “jaggedness” of intelligence—how AI can excel in some areas while completely breaking down in others. Dhruv, co-founder and Chief Scientist at Yutori, joins Hannah Clark to unpack the cognitive dissonance users feel when a model dazzles one moment and disappoints the next. They explore how user expectations—shaped by decades of intuitive UI patterns and human conversations—often collide with the underlying limits of AI systems. From browser agents and automation to long-term feedback loops and trust-building, this conversation is a candid look at what today’s AI can actually do (and where it’s still bluffing). If you’re building with AI or trying to scope what’s possible, this one will recalibrate your expectations—in a good way. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Dhruv on LinkedIn Check out Dhruv’s website and Yutori
The Most Misleading Plays in Product, Unmasked
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in product right now—especially when it comes to AI. Shiny tools and slick prototypes are masquerading as production-ready solutions, and teams are feeling the pressure to keep up. But what happens when the hype outpaces the fundamentals? Hannah sits down with Matt Graney, CPO of Celigo, to talk about bad product plays in disguise—from vibe coding and no-code illusions to AI-fueled shortcuts that chip away at real product rigor. With decades in B2B product and a track record scaling teams, Matt offers a sharp, grounded view on what’s actually changing, what’s staying the same, and how to keep your product sense intact through it all. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Check out Celigo
The Product Leader’s Guide to Buyer Psychology
Every product team faces the same monster: conversion optimization. But in 2025, the game has changed. With AI agents influencing discovery and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) reshaping how people (and machines) interpret messaging, teams are now marketing to both human and agentic audiences. In this episode, Hannah Clark sits down with Chris Silvestri, founder of Conversion Alchemy , to unpack how product teams can use psychology and UX insights to craft messaging that drives both adoption and retention. A former software engineer turned conversion strategist, Chris explains how understanding human decision-making—and now machine reasoning—can help product leaders turn features into irresistible outcomes. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Chris on LinkedIn Check out Conversion Alchemy
Why It’s So Hard to Adopt New Skills (with Maxine Anderson, Co-Founder & CPO at Arist)
Every product manager obsesses over leadership styles, onboarding flows, and GTM strategies—but what if the biggest differentiator of success comes down to something much simpler? Learning. In this episode, Hannah Clark sits down with Maxine Anderson, Co-Founder and CPO of Arist, a text-based learning platform that flips traditional corporate education on its head. Maxine started her career in rural Oregon classrooms, where she saw firsthand how inaccessible and ineffective most learning environments were. That experience sparked the idea behind Arist: meeting people where they already are, through tools like SMS, Slack, and Teams. What follows is a candid conversation about why more content doesn’t equal more learning, the real barriers that keep employees from growing, and how AI is reshaping not just education—but how organizations function. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Maxine on LinkedIn Check out Arist
How American Express 4x Its Experimentation Velocity in 1 Year (with Jean Castanon, VP of Digital Product at American Express)
Every product leader wrestles with the same tradeoff: move fast and risk breaking things, or move slow and risk irrelevance. But what if the real accelerator wasn’t cutting corners—it was systematizing experimentation? In this episode, Hannah Clark sits down with Jean Castanon, VP of Digital Product at American Express, to explore how his team quadrupled their testing velocity in a year, redefined what “success” in experiments really means, and built a referral program that became Amex’s second-largest global acquisition channel. Jean brings over a decade of experience at Amex across strategy, marketing, and digital, and he shares how his team balances speed, scale, and sustainability in product strategy. From building experimentation muscle to future-proofing digital storefronts, this conversation is packed with lessons for product leaders at every stage. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletter Connect with Jean on LinkedIn Check out American Express
How to Navigate “Growing Pains” in Scaling Orgs (with Matthew Wensing, Head of Product and Design at Customer.io)
Startups don’t get easier with age—they just get more complex. Much like teenagers, scale-ups are constantly outgrowing their structures, still figuring out their identity, and not always great at setting realistic goals. But this awkward “in-between” stage isn’t a failure—it’s a rite of passage on the path to becoming a mature company. In this episode, Hannah sits down with Matt Wensing, Head of Product and Design at Customer.io, who has seen scaling from nearly every angle: founder, product leader, and now executive. Matt shares how to bridge the gap between lofty strategy and day-to-day execution, why your org’s real capacity is often higher than you think, and how to turn constant experimentation from chaos into sustainable growth. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn Check out Customer.io and Matthew’s website
How to Balance Speed and Value: The Essential Role of Empathy in the AI Product Era (with Megan O'Rourke, Executive Director of Product at Metalab)
The Tin Man’s silk heart in The Wizard of Oz is a perfect metaphor for AI right now—it can convincingly mimic empathy, but it’s not the real thing. In this episode, Hannah Clark sits down with Megan O’Rourke, Executive Director of Product at Metalab, to explore the delicate balance between AI-powered productivity and human-driven resonance. They dive into why empathy and storytelling are irreplaceable in both product development and leadership, and the risks we run if we trade them away for efficiency. Megan shares stories from the field, frameworks for deciding when AI belongs in the workflow, and practical ways leaders can embed human connection into their teams’ processes. From reading the silence in a meeting to designing for emotional moments, this conversation is all about building products—and cultures—that people can truly connect with. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Megan on LinkedIn Check out Metalab
How to Adapt to the New Gold Standard in Product Management (with Maryam Ashoori, VP of Product and Engineering at IBM Watsonx)
Product management isn’t just evolving—it’s getting completely rewritten. In this episode, Hannah sits down with Dr. Maryam Ashoori, VP of Product and Engineering at IBM Watsonx, to talk about how AI is reshaping not only the tools product managers use, but the very nature of the role itself. Maryam brings two decades of experience in AI across design, research, and engineering, and shares what she's seeing from the front lines of one of the most powerful Gen AI platforms on the planet. They explore how AI is shifting expectations, blurring team roles, and opening new paths for productivity and creativity. If you’ve ever felt like the PM playbook just got tossed out the window, you’re not alone—and this conversation is a thoughtful look at how to navigate what comes next. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Maryam on LinkedIn Check out IBM Watsonx
How I Survived the Past 3 Years in Product Leadership (with Michael Luchen, Product Transformation Architect)
When AI was just a sci-fi footnote and “product transformation” sounded like a buzzword, Michael Luchen was already in the trenches. In this episode, Hannah sits down with the original host of The Product Manager Podcast to unpack three years of change—from his early missteps to building scalable systems and navigating the AI tidal wave with nuance and strategy. Michael, now a self-described "Product Transformation Architect," brings candor and depth as he reflects on what it really takes to shift product culture, orchestrate cross-org alignment, and keep your teams (and kids) curious. Whether you’re wrangling a roadmap or sketching ideas on construction paper, this one’s for you. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Michael on LinkedIn Check out Michael’s website
Vibe Coding 101: A Zero-to-One Hands-On Workshop (with Drew Falkman, Principal at Moves The Needle Studio)
If you’ve heard the buzz about Vibe Coding but aren’t quite sure what’s real and what’s hype, this episode is your shortcut to clarity. Recorded live at our hands-on Vibe Coding Workshop, this 30-minute seminar with Drew Falkman (Principal at Moves The Needle) unpacks what Vibe Coding actually is, where it fits in the product lifecycle, and how non-technical folks are already using it to ship tools and prototypes—without writing a line of code. Joined by co-host Katie Sanders, Hannah leads a myth-busting session that tackles common misconceptions (spoiler: engineers aren’t going anywhere), showcases real-world use cases from Reddit and their own team, and offers tactical advice for PMs who want to explore this fast-evolving space responsibly. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Drew on LinkedIn Check out Moves The Needle
How to Turn Neurodivergent 'Challenges' Into Leadership Superpowers (with Frankie Berkoben)
ADHD might be the product trait nobody’s putting on their resume—but maybe they should. In this episode, Hannah sits down with executive coach Frankie Berkoben to unpack the complex intersection of ADHD, executive function, and product leadership. Together, they explore how ADHD traits like systems thinking, emotional intelligence, and comfort with ambiguity make product people exceptional—and why those same strengths often lead to burnout, inconsistency, or shame in traditional work environments. This conversation doesn’t offer productivity hacks or time-boxed silver bullets. Instead, it’s a candid, deeply validating discussion about how to build careers, teams, and work cultures that actually work for neurodivergent brains. Whether you have a diagnosis, suspect you might, or simply want to lead with more nuance and empathy, this one’s worth a listen. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Frankie on LinkedIn Check out Frankie’s website
Finding Your Unfair Advantage in Product’s Wild West Era (with Margaret-Ann Seger, Head of Product at Statsig)
Product-market fit isn’t enough anymore. In an age where AI is making it easier for anyone to ship a half-decent product, the real battleground is distribution. Margaret-Ann Seger (Head of Product at Statsig) joins Hannah Clark to talk about how AI is reshaping go-to-market strategy, why speed and feedback loops are becoming product differentiators, and how her team at Statsig is baking collaboration and empathy into every part of their product dev cycle. From lo-fi GTM experiments to the power of doing support as a PM, this episode is packed with practical ways to ship smarter—and more human—products, faster. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Margaret on LinkedIn Check out Statsig
The Systems Thinking Process Used by the Most Adaptable Product Leaders (with Sheryl Cababa, Author of Closing the Loop)
What if instead of racing to solve problems, you paused to map the entire system first? In this episode, Hannah sits down with Sheryl Cababa—author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers and founder of Optimistic Design—to talk about what it really means to design for complexity. From AI adoption to organizational policy changes, Sheryl brings a systems lens to the decisions leaders make (often too hastily) in fast-moving environments. They explore how design leaders can avoid short-sighted thinking, better understand stakeholder dynamics, and use accessible tools to facilitate organizational change that actually sticks. Whether you're planning your back-to-office strategy or rethinking your product's impact, this conversation will leave you re-evaluating how your decisions ripple through the system. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Sheryl on LinkedIn Sheryl’s book — Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers Check out Optimistic Design
What Does Engineering Excellence Look Like in the Age of AI? (with Anish Dhar, Co-founder and CEO of Cortex.io)
The “AI is coming for your job” headlines have been exhausting—especially if you're a software engineer. But as Cortex.io founder Anish Dhar explains, engineering isn’t dying; it's evolving. In this episode, Hannah sits down with Anish to unpack what engineering excellence actually means in 2025, why measuring developer productivity is still wildly misunderstood, and where AI coding tools fit into the real world of production-scale systems. Spoiler: you can’t vibe-code your way to a million users. Anish draws from his time at Uber and Cortex to break down how engineering leaders can better align technical initiatives to business outcomes, adopt AI without sacrificing code quality, and avoid getting swept up in hype cycles that don’t serve the organization. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Anish on LinkedIn and X Check out Cortex.io IDPCON — in-person event dedicated to Internal Developer Portals
How to Make Passion Your Differentiator in an AI-Driven World (with Norma Løvhaugen, VP Strategy at Neat)
What does passion really look like on a product team? In this episode, Hannah sits down with Norma Løvhaugen, VP Strategy at Neat, to unpack how passion fuels team collaboration, customer empathy, and a culture of innovation. They explore the difference between building products with passion versus simply shipping features—and why that distinction matters more than ever in an age of generative AI. Norma shares how Neat channels passion into a uniquely cohesive product experience, from obsessing over fabric swatches to translating human nuance into video conferencing. It’s a conversation about ownership, trust, and the magic that happens when design and engineering speak the same language (and respect each other's craft). Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Norma on LinkedIn Check out Neat
Mastercard’s SVP of Global Products on How to Enter New Markets (with Simone Paul Tamussin)
Expanding internationally is more complex than ever, with economic uncertainty, shifting regulations, and unpredictable tariffs creating constant challenges. While overseas opportunities can be tempting, businesses must navigate a landscape full of blind spots and evolving risks that demand careful planning and adaptability. Simone Tamussin, SVP of Product Management at Mastercard Gateway, shares valuable insights from his experience working with companies facing these hurdles. He discusses common pitfalls growth-focused leaders encounter, proactive strategies for entering new markets safely, and practical tips for managing the overwhelming paperwork that comes with global expansion. Resources from this episode: Subscribe to The Product Manager newsletter Connect with Simone on LinkedIn Check out Mastercard
