The Next Release

As highlighted ( here ), I recently ran a workshop for our team on Agile Frameworks tailored for Product Managers. In an attempt to take my mind off everything happening in the world lately, I decided to turn the key takeaways from that session into a set of simple, visual study cards. These slides offer a quick tour through a few popular frameworks, such as  XP, Kanban, Scrum, Lean, LeSS, SAFe, etc.,  with just enough context to learn (or refresh) your understanding. Hope you find them useful! Click here to access and download the file.

You know that satisfying moment when you realise you’ve been doing something right, without even labelling it? There’s a quote that often shows up in Agile articles: “D𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘈𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘉𝘦 A𝘨𝘪𝘭e. ” It hit me again while I was prepping for a workshop I’d promised my team. I ran the 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 session, covering a few key topics: • What Agile really means • What Product Managers need to know • A quick tour through XP, Kanban, Scrum, Lean, LeSS, SAFe, Nexus, and more While working on the content, I paused and asked myself: 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭? And the answer surprised me: 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵! Not perfect. Not by the book. But real, grounded progress. We may not have ticked every box in a framework, but we are almost Agile. Especially in the Product Team, we are improving month after month, and that matters. Agility isn’t just about ...

  AI makes building a new product easier, no doubt. But standing out? That’s on you! It’s 10x easier to build, 100x harder to differentiate. Your edge: Start with curiosity, keep experimenting! #ai #product — Ali Vahed (@alivahedinfo) June 11, 2025

The Scene:   INT. OFFICE – DAY A sleek high-rise office with floor-to-ceiling windows. A formal interview is underway for a role in a Software development team. A table sits between the INTERVIEWER and the CANDIDATE CASTING The INTERVIEWER: Professional, relaxed. Someone who interviews for any role, from a Sales rep to Software Engineer to C-level Executive, inspired by The Wolf of Wall Street , loves asking questions that throw candidates off guard. The CANDIDATE:   Suited up, a bit nervous but composed. A seasoned software professional: Product or Project Manager, Business Analyst, or experienced Software Engineer, ready for whatever the interview throws their way.    ACTION INTERVIEWER:  (smiling confidently) Please sell me this pen! CANDIDATE  (pauses, raises an eyebrow, thinking: “Seriously? For this role?” but decides to roll with it) Sure... that’s a good question. (leans forward slightly, zoomed in on the candidate's face, thinking out loud) B...

What would you do if your entire product market vanished overnight? This article presents a real-world example of navigating uncertainty, validating ideas, and finding traction in unexpected places when our market shifted unexpectedly.   This experience shaped my mindset in developing software solutions from scratch. If you work in product, tech, or delivery, you may relate. THE CROSSROADS: WHEN THE MARKET SHIFTS Problem Statement: The market for our current product has been shrinking. What should we do? At Radman ITD, we created our main products based on the needs of the public sector and government departments. This drove high demand for our products, which helped us grow from a few people in a rental room to a full team with structure and our own office with a view. Then, unexpectedly, a new government administration took over, and everything changed. Our team no longer felt motivated to continue working with the new administration.  For a young company, this was a se...

  There are two moments I absolutely love in any project: - Kicking off a brand new product , when everything seems possible! - Launching it for the first time, when the results start rolling in and life feels pretty good! Then there are these two moments I secretly dread: - Right before kickoff , when I second-guess every decision I’ve made. - Right after launch , when I can’t help but think, “You could’ve done better…!” And there’s this one rare moment I genuinely struggle with: Shutting down a product I helped bring to life. Even if it’s the right business decision for the client, it still stings! Living one of those moments right now and yeah, it sucks! But … this too shall pass!

  Product Managers, let’s talk gatekeeping! 🛑 With the rise of AI-assisted software development, Vibe coding, or low-code and no-code platforms, it has never been easier to push features fast, even if it means compromising quality or authenticity. But just because we can release more, it doesn’t mean we should! Speed is great, but not if we’re just shooting in the dark. In some markets (hello, AI tools!), users are already overwhelmed by the constant flood of new features and beta updates. They're still adapting to one change when the next one drops! As PMs, we need to embrace our role as "gatekeepers with purpose". It’s not enough to chase ROI, RICE scores, create quick wins, or beat competitors to market. We need to know our customers, understand the market, influence the team and ask the tough question: Is this worth shipping right now? Sometimes, restraint is the real innovation! 💡

Can AI revolutionise product discovery? Here’s how I experienced it with a real problem for one of our clients! What was the problem statement?  Registration and conversion rates were declining for an online brokerage client. Fix it! Were there any constraints?  Marketing and lead generation were out of scope! KYC requirements were non-negotiable! How did I initially approach the discovery (no AI yet)?  I kicked off the discovery with a full-funnel analysis using Snowflake and FullStory to map the user journey from acquisition to onboarding. I identified drop-off points and measured the performance of each step, especially the registration and KYC process. Not good!  Product Insight: Registration and KYC are non-value-added steps for users. They're necessary for compliance but not for the user’s primary goal, in our client's case: Trading! Every extra step delays them from their main "purpose"/ "job to be done". What was my main product strategy?   Break th...