To create an integrated product suite, Cisco dismantled divisional silos and restructured into a platform-based organization. An org chart directly dictates product architecture, so leaders must design their organization to produce the desired integrated outcome, not just individual products.

Meta is shifting from 12-person specialist teams to 6-7 person "pods." These are led by a "Product Staff"—a PM generalist who also handles design and data tasks—supported by generalist engineers. This structure increases speed by reducing coordination overhead.

Instead of a single centralized growth team, ElevenLabs creates dedicated "sharded" growth teams for each product line (e.g., consumer app, creator tools). These pods act as mini-CMOs for their product, supported by a horizontal team of channel specialists like SEO and performance marketing leads.

In a hybrid model, one PMM group should serve the data-driven needs of PLG (activation, experimentation), while another serves the sales-enablement needs of the enterprise motion (collateral, training). This structure prevents individual PMMs from being spread too thin.

To modernize her team, Ally's CMO designed a new structure based on core capabilities (Insights, Execution, Creative, Measurement) rather than traditional functional silos. This model, benchmarked against other high-performing organizations, creates clearer ownership and a more effective workflow.

Early-stage products have product managers aligned directly with engineering teams. As a product matures and finds market fit, the structure shifts. PMs become solution-focused, working across multiple engineering teams, complemented by horizontal teams for pricing and growth.

Rippling structures teams into business units led by GMs who oversee product, sales, and implementation. This is driven by the belief that a unified team focused on a specific customer problem (e.g., IT) delivers a superior end-to-end experience compared to a traditional matrixed organization.

In a multi-product company, horizontal teams naturally prioritize mature, high-impact businesses. Structuring teams vertically with P&L ownership for each product, even nascent ones, ensures dedicated focus and accountability, preventing smaller initiatives from being starved of resources.

Adobe moved away from channel-based silos and redesigned its marketing organization around specific customer groups. These core teams are supported horizontally by centers of excellence, creating a "teams of teams" structure that maps directly to the company's technology stack and ensures customer-centricity.