Rakshana Balakrishnan is an accomplished cloud product leader with 12+ years of experience in designing and delivering technical cloud-based products from concept to launch, including 0-to-1 and 1-to-n products. At Oracle, she leads the product development and growth for Oracle Database@AWS, an industry-first multicloud product that caters to global customers across AWS and Oracle cloud environments. Previously at AWS, she empowered thousands of global customers to create better business outcomes through their cloud journey, by delivering 20+ impactful products focused on optimizing cloud spend, improving the cloud security posture, and accelerating GenAI innovation - influencing billions in revenue. Her prior experience at PwC involved implementing industry-first AI/ML products for customers in the Pharmaceutical industry. As a recognized thought leader, Rakshana has spoken at numerous international conferences and tech talks, published articles on cloud product management in leading tech journals, and served as a judge/product advisor for key award programs. Passionate about fostering diversity in STEM, she serves as a community engagement leader and actively mentors hundreds of young women, in partnership with globally recognized non-profit organizations.

Rakshana Balakrishnan

Community Post

Data Driven Product Management

How to use churn data to build stickier products

Renata Gagetti is a product leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling products that make a real difference in people’s lives. Throughout her career, she had the privilege of working with incredible teams at companies like Uber, iFood, Rappi and OLX — leading strategic initiatives that drove growth, improved user experiences, and strengthened product operations. She has always believed product isn’t just about shipping features; it’s about solving real problems with clarity, empathy, and purpose.

Her journey has taken her across Latin America, the U.S., Europe, and Africa, where she has had the chance to lead and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in diverse cultural and market contexts. These global experiences have shaped the way she sees product leadership: as a bridge between strategy and execution, vision and impact. Today, she is passionate about creating spaces where teams can thrive, fostering human-centered product cultures, and inspiring the next generation of product leaders to build with both heart and ambition.

Renata Gagetti

Leadership

Who really owns the squad? (Spoiler...it’s not the product manager)

Igor is a Technical Project Management Lead at Virtual Health, where he helps shape innovative digital products that are transforming the U.S. healthcare industry.

With over 10 years of experience in IT, he has successfully delivered large-scale projects and technology solutions for global organizations including Skype, Microsoft, Swedbank Finland, the Estonian IT Ministry, the Information System Authority of the Republic of Estonia, Bank of Moscow, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, MTS, Megafon, and the EU Border Control Authority, among others.

Igor Mishurov

Product Launch

Learning from my own mistakes – how my product failed despite positive feedback from clients 

Cris Valerio is a seasoned product leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling products and teams at Uber, Instacart, and All Day Kitchens. A former Bloomberg financial news journalist and IDEO innovator, she blends storytelling, design thinking, and sharp execution to drive results. As a trainer with Mind the Product, she helps PMs apply real-world tools to solve complex challenges at scale. You can read more about her work on her Substack: https://9to5withcris.com/

Find out more about Mind the Product training here: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/training/

Cris Valerio

Product Management Skills

The tinkering advantage: Why small business projects make you a better product manager

Marta Rolak is VP of Product, leading teams through digital transformation and organisational change. She’s passionate about shaping product cultures where curiosity, clarity, and collaboration help teams build products that genuinely make a difference. Marta writes about the realities of modern product leadership — from working through uncertainty to empowering people to thrive in evolving environments. She is based in London.

Marta Rolak

Product Strategy

Vision isn't a statement. It's a guide.

Prateek Khamesra is a Senior Product Leader at Mastercard, where he drives innovation in digital payments and leads high-impact strategic initiatives like Buy Now Pay Later and Digital Wallets across global markets. With over 13 years of experience across fintech, consulting, and technology, he has held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, McKinsey & Company, and Infosys - specializing in product development, go-to-market execution, and business strategy. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Johns Hopkins University, where he also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Leadership Education. 

Prateek Khamesra

Leadership lessons from sunsetting a product   

Natalia is a product and commercial innovation leader with a proven track record in building and scaling digital technologies from idea to revenue to exit. Her experience spans product, marketing, sales, and ecosystem strategy across early-stage startups, scaleups, and corporate innovation environments.

Natalia is also the founder of Connected.Ventures, a curated network of over 300 technology innovation leaders in the UK. The events she hosts regularly bring together more than 70 directors from organizations such as HSBC, NatWest, Barclays, London & Partners and many others.

In addition to her commercial ventures, Natalia serves as a mentor and speaker on product, marketing, and sales at innovation organizations.

Natalia also advises global networks on technology strategy and, as a UK Tech Innovation Delegate, represents the sector at international events including global entrepreneurship conferences in the USA and Italy.

Natalia Loza

Product Development Process

How to conduct effective user interviews for digital products

Jenny is an entrepreneur and product operations consultant who helps product teams trying to make dramatic changes and make them stick. She helps them through fractional VP of Product services, coaching, and her course, Product Operations and Infrastructure. Learn more about her at www.jennywanger.com.

She brings over a decade of product management experience. She co-founded the pandemic-tech focused TCN Coalition and merged it with LF Public Health and previously led the consumer product team at SpotHero.

When offline, Jenny is usually up in the mountains outside of her home in Colorado hiking and skiing with her family. 

Jenny Wanger

Product Management Career

How to lead products through layoff fear

Product professional with 18+ years of experience driving complex, multi-product portfolios across regulated and innovation-driven sectors including GenAI, BioPharma/Healthcare, Security, TechHR, Legal Spend Management, SAP S/4 HANA and Fleet Management. Proven track record of delivering scalable, high-impact solutions by aligning product strategy with business goals, leading cross-functional global teams, and optimising performance through agile execution.
Skilled in product vision setting, strategic planning, prioritisation, risk management, and executive-level stakeholder communication, I excel at creating clarity from complexity and turning product opportunities into measurable business outcomes.

Kateryna Korotieieva

Collaboration

Building Product Teams

How to lead cross-functional teams and drive product success

A Product Marketing Manager with nearly six years of experience spanning marketing strategy, competitive analysis, and go-to-market execution. She has a proven track record of driving positioning, sales enablement, and market differentiation for B2B

technology products. Passionate about the intersection of product, marketing, and sales, Olajumoke focuses on building strategies that not only accelerate growth but also enable product marketing teams to thrive as a core function within organisations.



Olajumoke Adigun

How solo Product managers can own go-to-market strategy in lean teams

Amanda Holtstrom has lead software delivery teams for over 20 years and has launched over 150 product releases and platforms in a variety of industries. Throughout her career, Amanda has maintained interest in user and customer experience, building great teams, and the ways that Agile can support efficient delivery of value. 



Amanda Holtstrom

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

Before you add AI, consider these three fundamentals

Sagar Nikam turns ideas into impact with AI technologies and strategies that deliver real business value. Over the past decade, he has led product teams and delivered AI solutions across innovative startups and Fortune 100 enterprises. A recognized voice in the AI product community, Sagar speaks at industry events, appears on podcasts, and has mentored over 1,000 professionals worldwide. He shares practical insights through his flagship AI Product Management Mastery course and his newsletter, AIandProduct.com, helping product teams and founders navigate the fast-moving AI landscape. Passionate about growing the next generation of AI product leaders, he actively supports startup founders and aspiring professionals in building products that scale and create impact.

Guest Posts