The Gap Between Product Theory and Reality

Product work is increasingly dominated by frameworks, rituals and best practices that promise clarity but often distract from real impact.

This session is not about how to run better stand ups or prioritise a backlog. Instead, it looks at what often goes wrong in product teams, why processes and roles can quietly replace thinking, and how teams lose touch with customers, engineers and each other.

Using practical examples rather than theory, the session will challenge some common assumptions around Agile, UX, stakeholder management and product leadership. It is designed to be interactive, with space for discussion and shared experiences, rather than a set of answers to follow.

Speaker background
Kris Jones is a product leader with over 20 years of experience working across digital products in e-commerce, fintech and healthcare. He has worked in various small and large companies including Amazon, Worldpay, Comparethemarket, Cashflows and currently leads product at ZAVA, part of Hims and Hers.

He has worked across and around 30+ product teams and is particularly interested in judgement, customer impact, and how product teams operate in complex, real world environments.