Getting engineers to think like GMs

Jon Hyman (CTO & Co-Founder @ Braze) returns to the podcast to share how he balances a mature, public-company roadmap with visionary AI innovation! We deconstruct Braze’s quantitative "Product Health" framework - a scoring system used to resolve competing prioritizations and mandate technical remediation. We also discuss shifting engineering leaders to think like GMs, how to realign teams by connecting abstract “vision” to specific releases, goals & outcomes. Plus, Jon’s three-tier mental model for AI products, how to identify AI features that actually drive revenue, and reimaging your product for future channels, teams, and skills.

ABOUT JON HYMAN

Jon Hyman is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Braze, the customer engagement platform that delivers messaging experiences across push, email, in-app, and more. He leads the charge for building the platform’s technical systems and infrastructure as well as overseeing the company’s technical operations and engineering team.

Prior to Braze, Jon served as lead engineer for the Core Technology group at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. There, he managed a team that maintained 80+ software assets and was responsible for the security and stability of critical trading systems. Jon met cofounder Bill Magnuson during his time at Bridgewater, and together they won the 2011 TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon. Jon is a recipient of the SmartCEO Executive Management Award in the CIO/CTO Category for New York. Jon holds a B.A. from Harvard University in Computer Science.

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SHOW NOTES:

• Braze’s operating environment & key focus on product health / roadmap (2:58)
• What’s next for Braze: Research-driven innovation in the AI era (6:16)
• Ensuring customers utilize the full breadth of features (9:42)
• The "Swarming" strategy: Reducing engineering escalation tax through support collaboration (14:19)
• Shifting engineering leadership think like GMs: Moving from completion goals to business outcomes like revenue, growth rates & regional differences (17:29)
• How engineering leaders can increase business IQ by understanding margins and adoption (18:20)
• Deconstructing misalignment, the abstract nature of product vision, and connect teams to tangible business outcomes, goals, and specific releases (22:02)
• Management infrastructure: Quarterly product health reporting and trending metrics (23:20)
• Forming a mental model for company maturity, building a visionary roadmap, and more innovative engineering initiatives (25:34)
• Frameworks for AI Decision-Making: Identifying AI features that drive revenue vs. those that only improve stickiness (31:55)
• Reimagining your product based on different personas, new channels, “AI omniboxes”, and teams / skills of the future (35:44)
• Breaking down team silos, customer engagement as a shared responsibility, and the future of full-stack roles orchestrating outcome-based workflows & automations (41:50)
• Rapid fire questions (45:10)

LINKS AND RESOURCES

• Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green: A historical look at how the disease has shaped the world
• braze.com

This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

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