Smarter AI Models Won't Fix Your Deployment | Maryam Ashoori, VP PM/Eng (IBM, Watsonx)

February 17th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  26 mins 49 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

In this episode, we’re joined by Maryam Ashoori, VP of Product and Engineering at IBM’s Watsonx platform. With a background that includes 2 master's degrees in AI, a PhD in Systems Design Engineering, and named on over 30 patents at IBM, she’s been on the bleeding edge for over a decade. Currently leading the charge on Agentic AI and AI Governance at IBM, Maryam is a bridge between the theoretical frontier of AI and the messy reality of enterprise deployment.

In this episode, Maryam:

• Tells why AI has been stuck in pilot purgatory for longer than expected, and what you need to do today for a successful enterprise deployment
• Calls shenanigans on the “biggest, best model” crowd, and why often a smaller, more focused tool is the right choice
• Explains how to build an agnostic architecture that can handle the realities of an AI world where models advance faster than anybody can keep up

Using AI to Preserve 140 Years of History at the LA Times | Deepika Manglani, VP Product (LA Times)

February 4th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  25 mins 13 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

In this episode, we’re joined by Deepika Manglani, VP of Product and Program Management at the LA Times. Deepika’s career in media spans over 15 years, culminating in her current role, where she’s bringing the 140-year-old institution into the future.

In this episode, Deepika shares:

• How her team is using AI to preserve a unique trove of historical data, over 12 million pages of news archives from as far back as the 1800s
• What this digital archive and maturation of AI enables for future storytelling, media innovation, and news personalization
• Why combining product and program management was critical to navigating massive transformation at the LA Times through a period of heavy M&A activity

Designing for Attention: How CrossFit Builds Product for Community-Led Growth | Ben McAllister, CPTO

January 27th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  25 mins 48 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

In this episode, we’re joined by Ben McAllister, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at CrossFit, and one of the most thoughtful product leaders I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with.

Ben’s path is anything but linear: with a degree in physics, a short stint in consulting, and time spent as a creative director at a design agency before moving into senior product roles at Under Armour. Now he’s shaping one of the world’s most iconic fitness ecosystems.

In this episode, Ben shares:

• Why attention is the ultimate currency in product design, and how to design for the “spotlight” versus the periphery.
• The “Infovore” Advantage: Why the best product leaders borrow ideas from outside the tech world; and
• How to build a cohesive product strategy for a complex, decentralized network like CrossFit’s global community of affiliates and athletes.

How AI Can Eliminate the “Chaos Tax” in Enterprise Software | Karthik Viswanathan (TalAiro)

January 20th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  28 mins 15 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

In this episode, we’re joined by Karthik Viswanathan. Formerly a product leader at AT&T, Macy’s, and Optum, he’s now the founder of TalAiro, an HR tech startup that is rethinking the operating system for recruiting.

Karthik argues that the hidden failure of the modern tech stack is forcing the user to serve as a “manual integration layer. He explains how the push to "unbundle" features results in a “Chaos Tax”— consuming 40-60% of the workday with fighting disconnected tools rather than doing their jobs.

Beyond that, Karthik also discusses:

• How AI can make work more human: Why the true value isn't in replacing jobs, but automating the "devil's cut" of administrative work.
• The journey from enterprise leader to founder: What building TalAiro from scratch taught Karthik about prioritization after years of leading enterprise product orgs, such as focusing on the 20% of workflows that drive 80% of the value

April Dunford’s 1 Killer Question to Expose Weak AI Product Positioning

January 13th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  36 mins 2 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

This week, we’re joined by the undisputed queen of B2B positioning, April Dunford.

April is the best-selling author of the seminal book "Obviously Awesome" and the new hit "Sales Pitch." She has spent 25 years as a startup executive and consultant helping companies stop guessing and start winning. If you have ever struggled to explain exactly why customers should pick you over the other guy, this episode is a masterclass.

In this episode, April talks about:

• Why Positioning is a Product Problem: How undefined positioning leads to wasted roadmaps, "not good enough" feedback from Sales, and engineering teams burning out on features that don't win deals
• The "AI Washing" Trap: Why saying "We have AI" is no longer a strategy—and how to articulate the specific value your tech unlocks that the competition can’t
• Why she loves when competitors lie: How to ethically trap competitors who over-promise features (and the one question sales should tell your prospects to ask them)
• And finally, vision vs. reality: How to sell the "glorious future" without losing the deal you need to close today

Is Dashboarding Dead? How AI Is Changing Analytics UX | Robert Henkhaus, VP of Product (Enverus)

January 6th, 2026  |  Season 2  |  27 mins 9 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

From U.S. Army sniper to VP of Product, Robert Henkhaus knows a thing or two about high-stakes decision-making. Today, he’s a product leader at Enverus, the software platform guiding billions of dollars in global energy capital.

Fresh off Enverus’ acquisition by Blackstone, Robert joins us to discuss how to innovate when the pressure is on.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why "Black Box" AI Fails: How Enverus builds trust with investment stakeholders by forcing AI to "show its work" on multi-million dollar recommendations.
• The Death of the Dashboard: Robert’s hot take on why AI will soon make traditional charts obsolete.
• Surviving Acquisition: The "60-Day Horizon" strategy Robert uses to keep team velocity high amidst Private Equity uncertainty.

Why AI Agents Are the Future of ERP | Bret Tushaus, VP Product (DelTek) - Repeat

December 30th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  28 mins 16 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

In this repeat episode of LaunchPod, originally published on Aug 12, 2025, we’re talking with Bret Tushaus, VP of Product at Deltek.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Deltek built Dela — an AI agent framework powering everything from smart summaries to autonomous accounting
• Why AI is rewriting the role of Product Management, and what leaders need to know now
• How Bret’s team leveled up their AI skills fast — with short, high-impact sprints focused on real tools and real problems

Lessons from the Launch that Became a Silicon Valley Punchline | Berni Fisher, VP Product (Appcues)

December 23rd, 2025  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 8 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

This week, we sat down with Berni Fisher, VP of Product at Appcues and a self-described "first principles goddess." Berni goes deep on what it was really like behind the scenes during the notorious 2012 Apple Maps launch, the triple threat problem at ButcherBox where they exist at the intersection of grocery, eCommerce, AND SaaS, and more.

In our conversation, Berni discusses:

• Surviving the "2012 Apple Maps Debacle" and the intense backlash post-launch, as well as how the team used a "triage mindset" to prioritize fixes based on customer usage and risk.
• Her Black Friday Gamble: Why she pushed for a risky site overhaul at ButcherBox right before their busiest season, resulting in double-digit conversion gains
• And Customer-Led AI Innovation: how Appcues used their own product to poll users on AI trust, leading to a roadmap driven by actual customer needs rather than industry hype.

Why Top-of-Funnel Traffic is Dead (& How TED is Replacing It ) | Tricia Maia, Head of Product (TED)

December 17th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  34 mins 1 sec

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, we’re joined by Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED. We all know TED Talks — but behind the scenes, TED is undergoing a massive product transformation to adapt to a post-AI media landscape. In this episode, Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED, pulls back the curtain on how they’re solving the “discovery” crisis facing digital media today.

Tricia shares:

• Why “views” are dead: Explaining why TED is abandoning top-of-funnel traffic as their North Star metric and shifting focus to “depth,” completion rates, and account signups to combat volatile search algorithms
• AI that actually scales: How TED is using advanced AI auto-dubbing — not just subtitles — to clone speakers’ voices into other languages, driving 2-3x better performance
• The “gap” strategy: The challenge of connecting a decentralized ecosystem of free users and volunteers at TEDx with an ultra-premium live experience that can cost up to $12,500 per ticket

Make the C-Suite Think Like a Startup (Without Getting Fired) | West Stringfellow, VP Product (ex-Target, Blackhawk)

December 9th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  32 mins 25 secs

business, digital experience, product management, technology

Today, we’re joined by West Stringfellow, currently VP of Product at Blackhawk Network and former VP of Innovation at Target.

In this episode, West shares:

• How he went from stealth startups to leading innovation at a company with over $77 billion in annual sales
• The methods he uses to manage up and influence leadership in order to achieve the outcomes necessary to create successful organizations time and time again
• The bold move that accelerated his Target career, which included hand-delivering over 300 copies of his innovation proposal to every executive at their Minneapolis HQ, even catching the attention of Target’s CEO
• An inside look at how Blackhawk is thinking about AI and digital transformation by cultivating “culture carriers” to champion AI