From Writing Code to Making Business-Aligned Decisions

ACCU York x Slurp n' Learn - "A joint night with Slurp n' Learn"

🕡 Doors open 18:00
ACCU York and Slurp n' Learn are running November together: two talks of roughly 45 minutes each, one evening. Doors are at 6pm, and we will confirm the running order nearer the time.
All are welcome, whether you have been to an ACCU York or a Slurp n' Learn evening before or neither.
🗣️ Oana May: "From Writing Code to Making Business-Aligned Decisions: Demystifying Product Sense in Developer-Friendly Terms"
Great engineers in the AI world won't just build things, they will decide what should be built and orchestrate AI to make it happen.
Oana breaks down product sense, the skill behind how product leaders make decisions in ambiguity, and translates it into practical thinking tools for engineers. Drawing on her experience coaching 1000+ product and engineering leaders in the Bay Area, New York and beyond, she shares FAANG-level methods that engineers and product leaders have used to move past execution and start influencing direction.
You'll learn:
- What product sense means for engineers, and why it is becoming non-optional
- How businesses decide what problems are worth solving, and why great ideas get ignored
- How AI is reshaping engineering roles and decision-making
- A framework for identifying the right problems before writing code
This talk is for engineers who want to understand why the business makes the calls it does, contribute ideas that gain traction, and grow into a more product-minded engineer. If you have ever felt that decisions happen around you rather than with you, this session gives you the lens and the tools to change that.
🗣️ Second talk to be announced
🔗 Finish off with Q&A, networking, and 🍻
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About the speaker: Oana May
Oana May is an ex-Meta leader, FAANG product coach, and 3x founder. She recently launched MOATCRAFT™, where she helps software developers learn to choose what problems are worth solving and make better business-aligned decisions. Using the CRAFT system she developed coaching 1000+ product and engineering leaders across the Bay Area, New York, and Seattle, she now teaches builders how to navigate ambiguity and sharpen their judgment, the key skill in a world where AI writes the code.
Her systematic approach resonates especially with software engineers who have never been trained to think systematically about a skill usually perceived as soft and intuitive. Oana proves that this intuition can be learned deliberately, and fast.
Her background includes Harvard Business School and a track record of seeing around corners as a founder and product leader, helping builders earn promotions, land dream roles, and think beyond execution into making smarter bets.
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Thank you to Patch for continued support, making this event possible.
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ACCU York is an ACCU local group
Follow on Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@accu_york
Co-hosted with Slurp n' Learn
Venue sponsors: Patch
Community sponsors: YorkDevelopers group, WiT York, Ministry of Testing York, Tech York, dotNet York, York Code Dojo, Leeds PHP, York Ruby, NYNE Games Dev Kitchen, Slurp n' Learn