What I’m taking from the conference into my product practice
The Product-Led Summit at the Intercontinental O2 this December brought together leading minds in product, growth, and innovation. The message was clear: the product landscape is changing rapidly. It’s no longer enough to build great products; we need adaptable teams, forward-thinking strategies, and a culture that embraces learning and failing fast, favouring progress over perfection.
Here are my top five takeaways. Plus a bonus insight that could transform your next cross-functional meeting:
- Zero-latency feedback loops are vital for growth
A major theme from the Summit was closing the gap between customer insight and team action. Monzo’s Product Director, Ed Stuart-Bourne, shared how revamping feedback models at the UK’s top digital bank boosted adoption and retention.
The old model: gather, synthesise, share. It moves too slowly. By the time feedback is processed, the product has moved on. Monzo sped this up by embedding direct feedback mechanisms into features from day one, streaming customer insights right into Slack, Teams, Jira, and places where product, engineering, design, and data live each day.
This isn’t just efficiency. Embedding feedback into daily culture helps teams respond in real-time, driving higher growth and retention.
- High-performing teams prioritise wellness
Nessa O’Gorman, Director of Product at Expedia Group, reminded us: wellness isn’t a perk but a performance driver. Small changes - like better sleep, nutrition, and movement have a big impact, especially during busy times like year-end at Candyspace.
Focusing on wellbeing delivers:
- Sharper decisions
- More resilience
- Better collaboration
- More consistent execution
Teams with strong health rituals outperform those running on empty. Wellness is a strategy.
- Robust documentation has no downside
It can feel dull, slow, or like busywork, but disciplined documentation pays off.
Great documentation:
- Reduces onboarding friction
- Retains team knowledge
- Accelerates decisions
- Helps teams work with autonomy
In fast-growing environments, documentation isn’t overhead; it’s both insurance and infrastructure.
- Agentic AI is reshaping consumer behaviour: build for tomorrow
Agentic AI systems that plan, compare, act, and even purchase for consumers are changing how people discover and shop for products.
The message: If you’re designing for yesterday’s or even today’s behaviours, you’re already behind.
Product leaders must anticipate:
- How AI agents will evaluate products
- How purchasing will be delegated
- How preferences and trust will evolve in an AI-driven world
This calls for bold foresight. Winners will build for where the market is heading.
- There’s no ‘right way’ to do Product Values + Capabilities + People = Pockets of Brilliance.
Pippa Topp, Chief Product Officer at giffgaff, addressed imposter syndrome and pushed us to let go of the myth of a perfect “product person.”
She emphasised that career-defining successes often come in hindsight because there’s no universal playbook, just adaptable frameworks shaped by our context.
Her equation:
Values + Capabilities + People, aligned to your context, create “pockets of brilliance.”
Top teams focus on:
- Clear values: curiosity, learning, creativity, collaboration
- Knowing strengths and limits and committing to growth
- Empowered, trusting relationships
- Context-aware decisions
With these in place, brilliance happens even if it’s not evident in the moment.
Bonus Insight: When in doubt, offer pizza
As DAZN’s Michael Campbell joked, “If in doubt, offer pizza!” and he’s right. Food is still one of the simplest ways to get engagement and genuine participation. Pizza brings people together.
For richer collaboration, stronger buy-in, or more creative solutions
