Next Gen Builders

How do you build products in the middle of an AI tornado, stay ahead of rapidly evolving technologies, and lead teams through uncertainty? Aparna Sinha, SVP of Product at Vercel, shares her playbook for navigating the future of product development in the AI era. Host Francois Ajenstat kicks off the conversation by exploring how Aparna’s unconventional journey has shaped the leadership approach she...

Is it possible to build and scale AI tooling for one of the world’s most risk-averse industries while instilling trust in your users? Today on Next Gen Builders , Francois Ajenstat explores just how to do it with Eleanor Lightbody , CEO of Luminance, the pioneer in Legal-Grade™ AI for enterprise. With 700+ customers in 70+ countries, Eleanor shares how Luminance evolved from early machine learning...

How do you bring your entire organization along for the AI ride while inspiring confidence and flexibility amid fast evolution? Hannah Calhoon , VP of AI and Head of AI Innovation at Indeed, shares how she’s helping 11,000 employees embrace AI as a partner in their work. Host Francois Ajenstat gets things going through an exploration of how AI is currently transforming Indeed in both its offerings...

How do you cut through the AI noise, build trust in uncertain markets, and lead your marketing organization through constant reinvention? Diego Lomanto, CMO at WRITER, shares his blueprint for enterprise storytelling, customer-centered go-to-market, and scaling AI with impact. Host Francois Ajenstat opens up the conversation by asking how Diego’s unique journey has led him to where he is today. Ma...

How do great product leaders navigate rapid scaling, the AI evolution, and unpredictable founders? April Underwood , former CPO at Slack and Co-Founder of Adverb Ventures, shares her playbook for building enduring product vision through change. Francois and April frame their conversation by first exploring her background with hypergrowth orgs such as Twitter and Slack, unpacking key learnings arou...

How do top design leaders turn strategic vision into product magic? Yudi Sun of Duolingo joins Francois on this episode of Next Gen Builders to share how design can influence product outcomes, build cross-functional trust, and scale impact. Their conversation takes a look at the design systems, rituals, and philosophies that supercharge one of the world’s most engaging apps. With prior experience...

What does it really take to build, ship, and scale AI fast? Today on Next Gen Builders, Francois is joined by Daniel Sternberg, former Head of Data at Notion and Gusto, who shares lessons learned from the development of Notion AI and the evolving role of data leadership in AI-first organizations. Daniel offers an inside look at Notion AI’s rapid development, revealing how a CEO-driven push transfo...

Today on Next Gen Builders , Francois welcomes Brent Smart, the CMO at Australian Telco giant, Telstra. Their conversation focuses on the power of brand as Brent has been the leading charge behind Telstra’s new brand platform.  Throughout the episode, Brent argues for connecting your marketing efforts to the real world. When trying to evaluate how Telstra appeared to consumers, his team ran survey...

Today on Next Gen Builders , Francois speaks with Edik Mitelman, SVP & General Manager of AppsFlyer Privacy Cloud, the trusted open platform for ecosystem collaboration and innovation with a clear mission: Enhancing end-users experience, while preserving their privacy. Their conversation covers the challenges and strategies for building a startup within a larger organization, and why you would eve...

Welcome to Season 02 of Next Gen Builders! Today, Francois sits down with fellow podcast host Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder & CEO of Product School, the global leader in Product Management training. Their conversation covers how Carlos scaled Product School from the ground up, why community building has been a key factor in his success, and what truly makes a great product leader.  Car...

In this episode of the Next Gen Builders, Francois is joined by Hubert Palan, Founder & CEO of Productboard, the customer-driven product management tool, who shares how relentlessly focusing on customer pain points has helped them build a product that not only serves but delights its users. When Hubert Palan founded Productboard, he had one goal: Help companies make better product decisions by und...

In this episode of Next Gen Builders , Francois sits down with Damien Delautier, a seasoned product leader at CANAL+, a major player in the creation and distribution of content around the world.  The duo unravel the complexities behind scaling tech platforms at a global level and their conversation covers M&A, the blending of data with people, and how teams can connect despite the distance between...

In today’s episode of “Next Gen Builders,” Francois is joined by Gage Sonntag, Senior Director of Data at Super.com. Their conversation hits upon the intricacies of working in a data-driven organization, how roles are evolving in the industry, and the power of experimentation. Throughout the conversation Gage and Francois discuss creating a balance between data self-service and governance. Super.c...

Today’s episode of Next Gen Builders is all about trust. In a conversation that goes far beyond the surface of product design, Francois invites Alexis Baird, Head of Product Experience at Thumbtack, to explore the intricacies of creating digital products that not only meet but exceed the expectations of modern users—users who demand both convenience and authenticity. Thumbtack is a digital marketp...

Trigger warning: The episode and this post references a mass shooting/casualty event This week on Next Gen Builders, Francois is joined by Adriana Gil Miner, the CMO of Iterable, the customer communication platform that helps brands deliver joyful experiences with harmonized, individualized, and dynamic communications at scale. Today’s topic? Managing through crisis. In her over twenty years of ex...

This week on Next Gen Builders, Francois is joined by Sheila Vashee, Chief Marketing Officer at Figma, the widespread design and collaboration platform whose mission is to “make design accessible for everyone.” Sheila shares how she pioneered product-led growth (PLG) at Dropbox to scale the team to 80+ and $1B in revenue, advice for marketing teams hoping to evolve their own PLG efforts, and why s...

On this episode of Next Gen Builders, Francois is joined by Peter Yang, Principal Product Manager at Roblox, the game platform and creation system that allows users to play a wide variety of games, create games, and chat with others online. Peter shares how he transitioned from investment banking to product management, why he believes the customer is his most important team member, and how others...

In this episode of Next Gen Builders, host Francois welcomes Ashley Kramer, the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer of GitLab Inc., the DevSecOps Platform.  Ashley offers insights from her rich background in both product and marketing, sharing practical advice on how to foster successful collaboration between these two critical business functions. Throughout her conversation with Francois, Ashley...

In this week’s episode of Next Gen Builders , Francois is joined by Drew Glover, Co-Founder and General Partner at Fiat Ventures, a VC firm focusing on the next generation of early-stage fintech startups.  Drew shares his unconventional path that led him to start Fiat Ventures, advice for founders looking to raise capital, and how he strategically builds his team to complement his own strengths an...

In the debut episode of Next Gen Builders, join product leader and host Francois Ajenstat in a fun and inspiring conversation with Sarah Franklin, the CEO of people management platform Lattice and former CMO at Salesforce. Sarah shares her guiding principles, favorite stories, and oh-sh*t moments from throughout her career shattering the glass ceiling as a female executive in tech.  You’ll hear he...

Welcome to Next Gen Builders, a behind-the-scenes look with the industry’s most influential leaders building great digital experiences. Veteran product executive Francois Ajenstat explores how teams connect grand visions to the grit of execution. In his conversations, hear from the most inspiring and prominent product pioneers on the paths they’ve navigated, and lessons they’ve learned on their wa...