The Improving Edge

When AI makes you faster, it's easy to stop paying attention. Don McGreal, author of The Professional Product Owner, breaks down why teams shipping code and strategies they don't understand is becoming the biggest hidden risk in AI-enabled development. Learn why one executive's 14-page AI-generated strategic plan tanked (full of holes and fake details), how ownership gets lost in the pursuit of velocity, and why product managers are more critical than ever. Don covers what AI is actually good at (synthesis, naming, wordsmithing) and where humans can't surrender: strategy, judgment, and accountability. For product managers and decision-makers who need to move fast without moving blind.

In this episode, David sits down with Kapil Dabi from Google to talk about why agentic commerce is about to blow up the retail game. Kapil breaks down how AI shopping assistants can cut your customer's shopping journey from 10 clicks down to just 3 or 4, which translates to way more conversions. Whether you're selling clothes, groceries, or jewelry, the conversation covers what you actually need to do right now to get ready for this shift, including getting your product data in shape and building experiences on your own website first.

Claudio Lassala challenges the "human in the loop" approach to AI, arguing that clarity of intent, rather than code output, is the real productivity multiplier. Learn how to shift your leadership mindset to leverage AI as a partner in human problem-solving, using storytelling and clear vision to drive meaningful results.

Most organizations want AI but aren't ready for it. The barrier for good AI solutions is often data quality and hidden business processes that executives don't even know exist. Finance leaders must focus on clean data, process transparency, and change management before pursuing AI implementation, which will unlock real value by eliminating manual work and freeing teams for strategic priorities. In this episode, Sean Antonello reveals how one utility company discovered 22 separate Excel models feeding their reporting system, creating massive risk and inefficiency.

Nearshore delivery is shifting from labor arbitrage to competitive advantage through AI. David Sandoval, President of Improving Mexico, shares how distributed teams are achieving 10x productivity gains by pairing strong engineering frameworks with AI tools. He reveals why culture and alignment matter more than automation alone. Discover how one pharma client reduced ticket resolution time from 40 minutes to 4 minutes using an AI agent built by their nearshore team.