What do product leaders need to consider when leading product strategy at SMBs? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, BILL CPO Irana Wasti shares her expertise on leading product strategy for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). She discusses the importance of customer-centric innovation, adapting to rapidly changing business environments, and integrating AI into product experiences. Irana emphasizes the need for experimentation in product development and explains how her immigrant background has shaped her adaptable leadership style. She also explores the challenges of serving diverse SMB needs at scale and offers valuable insights on leveraging AI to enhance both internal operations and customer-facing solutions.
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Show Notes:
- Customer-centric innovation is crucial for product strategy in serving SMBs.
- The pandemic accelerated digital adoption among SMBs, leading to an average of seven software solutions per business.
- SMBs are seeking integrated experiences and a 360-degree view of their cash flow.
- AI integration should focus on providing automation, efficiency, and assurance for SMBs.
- Product strategy is core to overall corporate strategy and often drives fiscal year planning.
- Successful product leadership requires tight partnerships across all company functions.
- Product investments should be spread across short, medium, and long-term horizons.
- Adaptability and a problem-solving mindset are essential traits for product leaders.
- Customer visits and immersion in their environment are crucial for understanding SMB needs.
- SMBs require powerful enterprise-like tools with consumer-level ease of use.
- Experimentation is a key best practice in product management, reducing uncertainty and risk.
- Breaking down ideas into testable hypotheses helps teams confidently try new approaches.
- AI impacts product management both in day-to-day operations and in customer-facing solutions.
- Integrating AI into products requires balancing complexity with customer value and ease of use.
- AI can improve internal knowledge management and customer support efficiency.
- Product leaders must consider how to build trust when implementing AI in financial operations.
- The core principles of product management still apply when working with AI technologies.
- Serving SMBs at scale requires balancing diverse needs, budget constraints, and subject matter expertise.
- Product leaders should aim to free up time for valuable activities like face-to-face customer interactions.
- Successful product management involves synthesizing various customer voices into prioritized strategies.
About the speaker
Irana Wasti is the Chief Product Officer at BILL, a company at the forefront of financial automation software for small and midsize businesses. She's a seasoned leader committed to serving SMB customers and inspiring her teams with innovation, empathy, and passion. In her role as CPO at BILL, she drives the company's product strategy, customer experience, innovation, and product management. Irana is at the helm of delivering an Integrated Financial Operations Platform spanning a range of SMB critical tasks to optimize their cash flow. Before joining BILL, Irana was Chief Product Officer at Typeform, a global SaaS platform for audience engagement. She also served as President of GoDaddy EMEA, as well as SVP and General Manager for GoDaddy’s Productivity business, leading an international team to provide SMBs with tools and services to flourish, particularly expanding GoDaddy's reach across EMEA regions. In addition, Irana founded GoDaddy Women in Technology (GDWiT) a networking organization with a mission to foster professional growth among women at GoDaddy as well as attract more diversity to the technology industry. Irana served on the board of Sage, a financial software and services company, headquarter in UK. Irana has led product teams at Intuit and IBM, overseeing significant launches such as Quickbooks POS and mobile payments, which empowered over 100,000 merchants to adopt mobile solutions. Irana holds an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley. She and her husband have two very active boys and enjoy traveling and discovering new cultures and cuisines.