Thank you to the volunteers of Ottawa Product Management and Marketing Association who created a welcoming space for Product people to gather in Ottawa this weekend.
Sharing here some reflections arising from the keynote and sessions I was able to attend…
The keynote reminded me that the people who hold power at the highest levels of our organizations sometimes undertake this work at a personal cost to themselves – sometimes that “bill” comes due when we retire and finally have time to reflect. It also reminded me of the patience and grace of community support during such times.
AI figured as a prominent topic and a plurality of perspectives emerged, including:
1. Taking a behavioural and change management approach to adopting this new technology into your work. Including undertaking workflow/task assessments to identify where “busy work” could be removed or optimized by AI. Including the people “doing the work” in this inquiry.
2. Finding ways for AI to challenge and expand your thinking/prototyping. Trying ideas out quickly. This is a variation that optimizes workflow/busy work but also signals the importance of rapid feedback cycles. I would further add that this approach was most effective in organizations/groups where the strategic direction felt grounded and clear.
3. Agentic AI was compared (by Dan Barkley) to innumerable bots, hyped on caffeine and sugar, running 24/7 in an attempt to grab a slice of margins by leveraging exposed APIs and monetizing them. This has put many organizations in a protective stance – safeguarding their external systems – as standard communication protocols are being built on the fly to help support clear and effective communication.
4. Perhaps the most “wishful thinking” of approaches was the belief that AI was enhancing communication and alignment between otherwise siloed groups; however, this was spoken about at a very “high level” – which left me a bit skeptical.
A breath of fresh air session (between all the talks about AI), Amanda Holstrom visualized mathematical equations that enable us to move beyond our intuition to make good decisions about Product. I now understand the factors that lead to Product “enshitification” much better than I did before – it was fun, clear, and informative in the best ways possible.
The most important reflection for me emerging from this event is that Ottawa’s Product / Tech community is ready to reconnect in person. The community of practitioners is smart, welcoming, and generous with insights and inquiries. Thanks again to all who made this event possible… see you next year!!!
P.S. To those who attended and participated in my session on “The Missing Agile Value”, please find the slide deck content below. And THANK YOU for considering and engaging with these ideas in community. If you ever want to talk about taking your Product mission to the next level – the world needs you more than ever – and I’m here if you ever want to connect!
InsideOutAgile 