EPISODE · Jan 20, 2026 · 42 MIN
What CPOs Need to Know Before Shipping AI | From Product Management Leader
from Mala's Podcast · host Mala Ramakrishnan
Mala Ramakrishnan sits down with Abhijit Kakhandiki, SVP & GM, Digital Business Automation at BMC Software and former EVP, Product & Engineering, Automation Anywhere, to unpack what it really takes to build AI-powered products that work in production — not just in demos.Drawing from years of experience creating the RPA category, scaling to thousands of enterprise customers, and shipping early AI products before GenAI was mainstream, Abhijit shares hard-won lessons on product leadership, AI misconceptions, customer-first design, and why most AI products fail after the POC stage.____________________________________________________00:00 Intro and Abhijit’s product leadership background01:10 Early AI and RPA before GenAI hype02:20 Common misconceptions about AI in products03:20 Why AI is not a magic bullet04:20 Starting with user personas and pain points05:30 Builders vs operators and scaling insights06:40 When GenAI ideas fail without context07:40 Learning from Automation Anywhere’s document AI08:50 Partner vs compete with cloud providers09:50 Why UX matters more than AI accuracy early10:50 Thin AI veneers vs deep product differentiation11:50 How AI changes the PM role12:50 New responsibilities: bias, ethics, and accuracy14:00 Why original thinking beats AI-generated content15:10 Removing the AI “wow factor” from strategy16:20 Gross margins, OpenAI costs, and real value17:30 Revenue funnels and when AI actually helps18:50 Retention, expansion, and customer readiness20:10 Why production-grade AI is hard21:20 Measuring AI success with business metrics22:40 Why most AI POCs fail in production24:00 Selling AI to CIOs, not just users26:00 Automation as the gateway to enterprise AI28:30 Business outcomes over model metrics30:00 Closing thoughts on AI product leadership____________________________________________________🔗 Connect with Abhijeet Kakhandiki → https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijit-kakhandiki/🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan🎧 Subscribe to the podcastYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4ASpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQApple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7Visit our Website: www.malaramakrishnan.com | www.founderscreative.ai
What this episode covers
Mala Ramakrishnan sits down with Abhijit Kakhandiki, SVP & GM, Digital Business Automation at BMC Software and former EVP, Product & Engineering, Automation Anywhere, to unpack what it really takes to build AI-powered products that work in production — not just in demos.Drawing from years of experience creating the RPA category, scaling to thousands of enterprise customers, and shipping early AI products before GenAI was mainstream, Abhijit shares hard-won lessons on product leadership, AI misconceptions, customer-first design, and why most AI products fail after the POC stage.____________________________________________________00:00 Intro and Abhijit’s product leadership background01:10 Early AI and RPA before GenAI hype02:20 Common misconceptions about AI in products03:20 Why AI is not a magic bullet04:20 Starting with user personas and pain points05:30 Builders vs operators and scaling insights06:40 When GenAI ideas fail without context07:40 Learning from Automation Anywhere’s document AI08:50 Partner vs compete with cloud providers09:50 Why UX matters more than AI accuracy early10:50 Thin AI veneers vs deep product differentiation11:50 How AI changes the PM role12:50 New responsibilities: bias, ethics, and accuracy14:00 Why original thinking beats AI-generated content15:10 Removing the AI “wow factor” from strategy16:20 Gross margins, OpenAI costs, and real value17:30 Revenue funnels and when AI actually helps18:50 Retention, expansion, and customer readiness20:10 Why production-grade AI is hard21:20 Measuring AI success with business metrics22:40 Why most AI POCs fail in production24:00 Selling AI to CIOs, not just users26:00 Automation as the gateway to enterprise AI28:30 Business outcomes over model metrics30:00 Closing thoughts on AI product leadership____________________________________________________🔗 Connect with Abhijeet Kakhandiki → https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijit-kakhandiki/🔗 Connect with Mala Ramakrishnan → https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaramakrishnan🎧 Subscribe to the podcastYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnL3D6aI60R-cCvypFIkh4ASpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NIDE4cT5fuVjC3HaGbCDK?si=eoSTNmhqQNKHQl9d1Jx0UQApple Podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/talking-to-the-leaders-of-ai-the-ceo-series-with-mala/22ad2bae-502b-4eb1-aa74-53bc79754db7Visit our Website: www.malaramakrishnan.com | www.founderscreative.ai
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What CPOs Need to Know Before Shipping AI | From Product Management Leader
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