🤖 AI Vertical
- Product Manager (Owner)
- Product Designer (UX/BA)
- Engineers (as needed)
- Shared QA
Slide 2
🏗️ Organizational Overview (Revised Visual)
Structure at a Glance
👑 CPO
Product Strategy — sets vision, alignment, and portfolio direction across all verticals.
📱 Mobile Vertical
- Product Manager (Owner)
- Product Designer (UX/BA)
- Engineers (as needed)
- Shared QA
🧮 Backoffice Vertical
- Product Manager (Owner)
- Product Designer (UX/BA)
- Engineers (as needed)
- Shared QA
Architect / DevOps Lead (Platform Layer)
— Architecture • Infrastructure • CI/CD • Deployments • Security • Shared Services • Engineering Standards
Business Functions (SMEs & Operations)
— Pricing • Partnerships • Insurance Ops • Other Domain Experts — Co-create with all product teams —
Key Principles
- ✅ Vertical ownership: Each product (AI, Mobile, Backoffice) owns roadmap, backlog, and outcomes.
- ✅ Empowered teams: PMs lead discovery & delivery with embedded Designer, Engineers, and Shared QA.
- ✅ Business partnership: SMEs are co-creators, not requestors.
- ✅ Light governance: CPO and Architect ensure alignment & quality without bottlenecks.
- ✅ Scalable by design: New verticals can be added with minimal disruption.
Slide 3
🧩 Vertical Product Team Model
Each product vertical functions as a mini-startup responsible for end-to-end success.
🧭 Product Manager (PM)
Leads discovery & delivery; owns strategy, roadmap, backlog, OKRs.
🎨 Product Designer (UX/BA)
Translates business/customer problems into validated solutions & build-ready specs.
💻 Engineering Team
Builds and maintains functionality (backend, frontend, mobile as needed).
🧪 Shared QA
Testing standards, automation, regression, and release quality.
Outcomes
🎯 Clear accountability
⚡ Faster discovery→delivery
📊 Measurable impact
🔗 Low dependency overhead
Slide 4
⚙️ Horizontal Layers & Governance
🧠 Horizontal Support Functions
- Product Leadership (CPO + PMs): Strategy, portfolio, cross-vertical alignment.
- Technical Platform (Architect/DevOps): Architecture, infrastructure, CI/CD, security, shared services.
- Business Functions (SMEs): Domain expertise and internal customers partnering in discovery & validation.
📅 Governance Meetings
- 🏛️ Product Council (weekly): CPO + PMs + Architect — portfolio alignment, capacity, dependencies.
- 🔍 Discovery Forums (weekly per vertical): PM + Designer + SMEs (+ Architect as needed) — problem framing & validation plan.
- 🧰 Architecture Syncs (biweekly): Architect + lead engineers — shared services, performance, security, standards.
🧭 Decision Flow
- Strategy → CPO sets company-wide product direction.
- Vertical Planning → PMs translate strategy into roadmaps & OKRs.
- Cross-Sync → Architect validates technical coherence & shared-service impact.
- Execution → Teams deliver and measure outcomes; Product Council resolves conflicts.
Slide 5
🔍 Discovery & Delivery Collaboration Model
Discovery Phase
- 🧭 PM: Opportunity framing, stakeholder interviews, outcome hypotheses.
- 🎨 Designer (UX/BA): Research, prototyping, usability testing, process mapping, specifications.
- 🏢 Business SMEs: Domain rules, constraints, success criteria.
- ⚙️ Architect (as needed): Feasibility, platform fit, cost/complexity signals.
Discovery Outputs: Validated problem statements • Solution hypotheses • Prototypes • Scoped backlog with acceptance criteria
Delivery Phase
- 🧭 PM: Sprint goals, scope control, impact tracking.
- 🎨 Designer: Final specs, flows, assets, accessibility guidance.
- 💻 Engineers: Build, test, instrument, deploy.
- 🧪 Shared QA: Regression & release readiness, automation.
- ⚙️ Architect/DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, reliability, security.
Delivery Outputs: Shipped increments • Telemetry dashboards • Outcome deltas vs OKRs • Debrief/learns
Slide 6
💡 Product Designer as Business Analyst
Our Product Designers are Business Analysts who speak design. They merge analytical rigor with user empathy to ensure every decision balances business value and customer experience, and results in build-ready specifications.
The Product Designer in this model combines the analytical depth of a Business Analyst with the validation-driven mindset of UX — turning business needs into tested, build-ready solutions.
Comparative Framing
| Dimension | Business Analyst | Product Designer |
|---|---|---|
| 🎯 Focus | Business requirements & process docs | Business problems and user experience (tested) |
| 🔍 Discovery | Stakeholder interviews | Research, prototyping, usability testing |
| 📦 Outputs | Requirement docs, process maps | Validated prototypes, UX specs, interaction flows |
| 🤝 Collaboration | Primarily business-facing | Embedded with PM & Engineers, fully cross-functional |
Key Responsibilities
- Lead business process analysis and convert into journeys & flows.
- Produce validated prototypes and functional + UX specifications.
- Facilitate usability tests and feedback loops with users/SMEs.
- Ensure every feature addresses a verified business problem.
Strategic Benefit for Stakeholders
- Business processes are understood and optimized.
- Continuity from idea → prototype → release.
- Less miscommunication between business and engineering.
- A data-informed, customer-centric delivery pipeline.
Slide 7
🧠 The Three-Pillar Model
Balancing Business Needs, Technical Constraints, and Customer Insights
Every product decision sits at the intersection of business viability, technical feasibility, and customer desirability. SMEs from the business are co-creators, shaping solutions alongside PMs, Designers, and Engineers.
Product Discovery Zone
🏢 Business Needs
Brought by SMEs
KPIs, opportunities, compliance, processes, goals, strategy.
👩💻 Technical Constraints
Defined by Architect & Engineers
Feasibility, scalability, sustainability, architecture, resources.
💬 Customer Needs
Captured by PMs & Designers
Research, feedback, behavioral data, user problems, experience insights.
PM + Designer + SME + Architect work together to validate problems, shape solutions, and align business, technical, and customer perspectives before delivery.
Outcomes
⚖️ Balanced, realistic decisions
♻️ Fewer reworks
🚀 Faster validation
🤝 Stronger cross-department ownership