A new CPO's first instinct is often to "fix" the roadmap process. A better approach is to interview every functional leader to understand their perspective on product. This reveals the core issue—often a feeling of exclusion—and builds the necessary consensus for real change.
MedBridge empowers Product Managers to create their own MVPs and prototypes, removing a significant burden from engineering. This accelerates the feedback loop with customers and allows engineers to focus on more complex tasks, ultimately speeding up the entire roadmap.
The emerging "product engineer" is best understood as a spectrum. On one end is the customer-facing product marketer; on the other, the deep-systems software architect. The middle is now populated by PMs who code and engineers who engage directly with customer feedback, a trend accelerated by AI tools.
Instead of focusing on specialized skills, the most revealing interview question for a PM is, "Have you ever launched anything before?" This simple query cuts through over-specialization and assesses if a candidate understands the entire go-to-market lifecycle, from build to sales enablement and customer adoption.
The traditional cadence of one major strategic bet per quarter is becoming obsolete. By leveraging AI for faster prototyping and feedback, product organizations can dramatically increase their innovation velocity, aiming for a new "big bet" every month or even every week.
To ensure new products succeed, the CPO's scope should expand beyond product and engineering. By owning functions like product marketing and sales enablement, product leaders can ensure tight alignment on messaging, objection handling, and market launch strategy from day one.
While speed to market is important, the true strategic advantage of a high-performing product organization is its ability to pivot rapidly when initial assumptions are wrong. The goal is to be consistently ahead of the commercial organization, adjusting based on direct feedback rather than reacting to sales requests.