How does a retail giant like Sam’s Club stay ahead of the tech curve? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Sam’s Club VP of Product Sharon Plasser will be speaking on the transformative power of AI and building high-performing product teams. Sharon shares her insights on navigating product leadership, driving innovation, and creating a culture of curiosity and trust that empowers teams to solve complex challenges.
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Show Notes
- Product management requires curiosity and systems thinking
- Most product leaders don’t start in product management
- AI will fundamentally transform product management roles
- The rise of “slashy PMs” with hybrid skills is emerging
- Internal tools are critical for organizational efficiency
- Trust and open communication are essential for high-performing teams
- Product managers should be comfortable with ambiguity and failure
- Data insights are becoming commoditized, making human insight more valuable
- Junior product managers may soon manage AI agents
- Leadership is about creating conditions for success, not making every decision
- Investing in internal tools prevents operational complexity
- Product strategy should align with long-term company goals
- Measuring success for internal tools requires looking beyond immediate revenue
- Rigorous debate and challenging ideas foster innovation
- Product managers need to be generalists with specialized knowledge
- AI can free product managers from tactical work to focus on strategy
- Organizational culture determines team performance
- Ownership means accepting responsibility for decision outcomes
- Product management is about solving real user problems
- Continuous learning and pattern recognition are key to product leadership
About the speaker
Sharon is a strategic product executive with a proven track record of scaling platforms, optimizing revenue streams, and driving enterprise-wide transformation. As Vice President of Product Management at Sam’s Club, she leads merchandising technology innovation, automation, and emerging tech, ensuring one of the world’s largest retailers remains people-led and tech-powered. Since joining Sam’s Club in 2015, Sharon has played key roles in digital transformation at scale—from AI-driven automation to platforms that streamline operations and enhance collaboration. She has built and led high-performing teams that turn complexity into a competitive advantage, creating solutions that optimize cost structures and enable revenue-generating strategies across digital commerce. Before Sam’s Club, Sharon led digital product management and design at an IoT manufacturer and held partnerships, monetization, and growth roles across financial services and digital media.
About the host
Certified Digital Product Manager (CDPM), Certified Project Manager Professional (PMP) and ScrumMaster (CSP) Specialties: Product Development, Product Management, Insurance, Banking, Financial Transformation, Process Improvement, Business Risk