In this episode, Amir Bormand interviews Kevin Trilli, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Amount Financial, about balancing product and technology leadership. They explore the challenges and benefits of merging product and tech roles, managing technical debt, and aligning product vision with business goals. Kevin shares personal experiences, insights on engineering leadership, and the evolving impact of AI on product management. Key Takeaways: Merging Product & Tech Leadership: Combining product and tech roles can streamline decision-making but requires balancing business goals with technical feasibility. Customer-Focused Development: Aligning engineering and product teams around customer success fosters collaborative problem-solving and better outcomes. Technical Debt Management: Managing tech debt involves allocating resources strategically, minimizing replatforming, and balancing short-term needs with long-term sustainability. AI's Role in Product Development: Understanding AI technologies is critical for product managers as AI-driven solutions reshape development processes. Highlights: 01:25 - Combining Product and Tech Roles: Lessons from Leadership 03:45 - Engineering & Product Alignment for Customer Success 05:30 - Managing Feedback Loops Between Teams 09:10 - Balancing Business Goals and Technical Execution 12:55 - The Impact of AI on Product and Engineering Teams 18:20 - Navigating Technical Debt and Roadmap Trade-offs 24:50 - Making Long-Term Product and Tech Decisions Tune in for a deep dive into product-tech leadership, engineering strategy, and practical advice on building high-performing tech organizations. As Chief Product and Technology Officer at Amount, Kevin Trilli shapes the entire product and technology organization, crafting and executing the product vision, product and innovation strategy while overseeing software and technology development. With a history of global product and technology officer roles in venture-based SaaS companies, including fintechs Mambu and Onfido (acquired by Entrust), Kevin is instrumental in helping scaling companies to over $100M ARR. Trilli, a Sloan Fellow with an MS in Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business, also holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. His expertise extends to multifaceted growth, merging technical proficiency with executive leadership across almost a dozen unique product markets over his career. Kevin also advises and sits on the board for several companies in AI, Cleantech and financial technology. https://www.linkedin.com/in/trilli/