Inbal S

AI shifts the developer's role from tactical code writing to high-level systems architecture and big-picture thinking.

"The user of the AI tools to develop software needs to form a different thinking. You need to start figuring out how are you using these AI tools to help you be successful. And it's no longer just the..."

AI is a tool for efficiency, but human innovation and the 'creative spark' remain the essential core that cannot be automated.

"Generative AI will replace humans. I don't see that happening in the near future. The way I think about it, you always need that human in the loop because AI cannot replace innovation. That creative s..."

Avoid 'AI for AI's sake' by starting with the customer problem and determining if AI is the right tool to solve it.

"What is that problem that we're trying to solve and how can we leverage AI better to help solve the problem versus what do we do with AI? So it's really working backwards from the customer problem fro..."

AI tools must be seamlessly integrated into existing workflows to avoid the friction that prevents adoption.

"The design philosophy for Copilot is very much aligned with the working backwards concept... It's really putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and figuring out what is it that they need, how..."

AI success should be measured by specific outcomes (like security or quality) rather than a single generic productivity metric.

"There is no one metric to rule them all. It's a combination of the things that you're looking to measure out of adopting AI... productivity is not the right metrics against each one of these component..."

Product leadership is primarily about influencing cross-functional partners who do not report to you.

"A product manager role is a very influential role and a lot of the things you do is influencing other people... You need to influence the engineering team to build a product that you want them to buil..."

Driving change requires building a shared understanding of the 'why' rather than just executing on the 'what.'

"When I'm coming to something and I see all the issues that need to be fixed... you don't take people with you through that journey. So really analyzing that not everyone appreciate change the way you..."

Asking about innovation reveals a candidate's vulnerability and their personal definition of creativity.

"What is the most innovative thing you have done and why do you think it's innovative? And it's really interesting that there are some people that think they need to answer about the biggest invention..."

Conflict stories reveal a candidate's communication skills and their ability to manage up effectively.

"Give me an example in a time where you had a disagreement with your manager... what did you do about it and how did you go? Because it showcase a lot about your character and are you willing to stand..."

A strong dogfooding culture ensures that products are vetted by internal users before reaching customers.

"GitHub is GitHub. I'll say we eat our own dog food, and that means that we are the first to try every feature, every capability that we're developing. And it's not just our engineering team, it spans..."

Innovation requires psychological safety and dedicated time for experimentation where failure is viewed as a learning opportunity.

"It's a lot about creating that bandwidth for the team to innovate and experiment and carving that time out, but also being okay that not every experiment is going to be successful. So the shift to lea..."

Effective product development starts with a clear problem definition rather than a technology-first approach.

"It's really working backwards from the customer problem from what we're trying to solve, and then realize what are the best tools that we have in order to do that work better and think through that la..."

Customer frustrations are the primary source of innovative product ideas.

"Spend time with customers and learn from your customers, because a lot of the innovative ideas are coming basically from conversation with customers because they're sharing with you their frustration,..."