Exploring the Future of Digital Transformation at PDD 2018

Kasia Cieslak

November 8, 2018

Night mode

This was the fourth time when Cracow turned into the capital of innovation under the leading theme of Digital Transformation during Product Development Days 2018.

The conference was full of workshops and lectures focused around product development and innovation design. It gathered speakers from all around the world representing the biggest brands in the industry such as Microsoft or Amazon and also smaller brands providing great services.

How was it? Let’s dive into our insights from the event.

Product Management

Conference started in the morning, when John J. Scherer and Edyta Korona invited a few experts on stage to share their stories of courageous moments in life. We heard an amazing Sylwia Lewandowska, Oana Juncu, Przemek Gawroński and many more. This session powered next ones and spark great discussions. That led to the first finding of the event:

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I participated at two great talk related to product management through Digital Transformation process. First was presented by Pramod Jain - General Manager of Commercial Products at Sabre Corporation. Pramod’s talk included fundamental skills required in product management and the role of product marketing to grow a product portfolio in a market's leading businesses. What’s more, he was talking about various business cases connected with company transformation with new technology's impact.

After Pramod’s talk the stage was taken by Lalita Ponnekanti’s inspiring talk: When I grow up I wanna be...a Product Manager. She started with detailed explanation of common Product Management definitions. Then, focused on proper Product Manager mindset based on charateristc proffesion features:

Butcher: Best PMs are ruthless in makings hard cuts
Strategist: PM sets the product goals and key initatives to execute the vision
Fixer: PM turnes the product strategy based on deep analysis
Prophet: PM needs to see one step ahead and set the vision
Firefighter: PM puts out fires with laser focus on sensitivity and cost

That led to the second finding of the event - that product thinking is what really matters the most.

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Apart from great talks, as Upside we also had a chance to contribute to the content. Kasia Ryniak delivered a workshop on Strategizing and Designing for Voice. Workshop gathered great participants interested in exploring a new platform for companies to interact with their clients through voice. What's really important is that the group of people who attended a workshop was aware that we're living in a fast changing world that requires companies to think long-term - also in term of technical development.

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