What does it really take to shift from shipping features to driving measurable outcomes at global scale? In this podcast hosted by EY Platform Operations Lead Justin Leibow, Walmart Principal Product Manager Parul Jain shares how she approaches on AI, innovation & outcome-driven strategy. She unpacks how outcome-based planning reshapes team behavior, how to structure innovation as a repeatable system rather than a one-off event, and where generative AI can meaningfully elevate product decision-making without replacing human judgment.
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Show Notes
- The hardest product problems are rarely about building features, they’re about deciding what to build, why, and when at scale.
- Career growth in product often comes from following curiosity, not rigid planning.
- Moving from execution to strategy requires learning how to connect external signals with internal constraints.
- Effective long-range planning starts with a small set of strategic intent outcomes, not a long feature list.
- Planning works best when treated as a sense-making exercise, not a roadmap presentation.
- Shifting from feature-based planning to outcome-based planning changes how teams think about success.
- Engineers respond well to outcome ownership when given flexibility in how to achieve it.
- Measuring success by outcomes instead of output increases engagement and accountability.
- Five-year visions should remain stable at a high level but be revisited annually to adapt to competition and market shifts.
- Innovation fails when treated as an event; it succeeds when treated as a system.
- A structured, stage-gated innovation pipeline (idea intake → evaluation → proof of concept → experimentation → MVP) creates repeatable progress.
- Innovation should operate under different constraints than standard roadmap planning.
- Crowdsourcing ideas across roles unlocks unexpected insights from people closest to the problems.
- Clear strategic guardrails prevent innovation programs from becoming unfocused.
- Asking contributors to map their ideas to strategic intents improves alignment and idea quality.
- Not every good idea should reprioritize the roadmap—novelty and alignment both matter.
- Generative AI delivers the most leverage in areas where decision-making is slowed by synthesis and coordination work.
- AI should elevate product operations by reducing busywork, not replace human judgment.
- A practical filter for AI use: apply it where work is structured, repetitive, context-rich, and still requires oversight.
- Scaling leadership—through mentorship and community—is as important as scaling products.
About the speaker
Parul Jain is a product leader passionate about driving business growth through strategic innovation. With over a decade of experience in high-tech product management, she has led transformative initiatives across telecommunications, mobility, fintech, retail, and e-commerce. She specializes in high-tech AI-powered solutions and the end-to-end tech. product development lifecycle (PDLC), helping organizations turn complex challenges into scalable, customer-centric opportunities. As a Principal Product Manager, Product Strategy at Walmart International, Parul plays a key role in shaping global product innovation, ensuring alignment with business objectives while delivering measurable impact. She thrives at the intersection of business and technology, leveraging data-driven insights to enhance customer experiences, optimize operations, and unlock new market opportunities. Parul holds a Master’s in Product Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering from India. A strong advocate for product excellence, she actively mentors emerging product leaders and contributes to strategic innovation in the broader product community.
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