Product Leadership, AI & App-First Transformation
Details
On 24th June, we’re hosting another evening of product conversations at ProductTank Birmingham — this time with two product leaders sharing lessons from scaling products, organisations, and teams in very different environments.
We’ll be joined by:
SPEAKER
Vladimir Pronin
The Talk: Why App-First Transformations Fail (And What Actually Works)
Talk Description:
Many organisations declare themselves “app-first” as mobile usage grows, yet still treat the app as a side project owned by a small central team.
In this talk, Vladimir Pronin shares lessons learned from leading an app-first transformation inside a large omnichannel organisation, where a single mobile team evolved into a scalable platform supporting 10 product squads delivering to mobile in parallel.
The session explores the organisational and ownership challenges that most often derail app-first initiatives, including siloed teams, unclear accountability, and competing channel priorities.
Rather than focusing on tools or metrics, Vladimir introduces practical mental models around platform ownership, omnichannel collaboration, and decision-making that help mobile scale beyond a single team and become a first-class product across the business.
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SPEAKER
Hamzah Hafesji
The Talk: The AI Adoption Trap: Why Most Product Organisations Aren’t Ready
Talk Description:
Everyone wants to “do AI.”
Executives want AI strategies. Teams are experimenting with copilots, automation, AI-powered features, and faster ways of building products than ever before.
And while some of it is genuinely transformative, many organisations are moving faster than their product foundations can support.
Teams are reacting to hype cycles. Roadmaps are shifting rapidly.
Ownership and governance are often unclear. And product leaders are being asked to turn AI ambition into meaningful business impact without the operating model to support it.
In this talk, Hamzah Hafesji explores why AI adoption is not just a technology challenge, but a product leadership challenge.
Drawing from his experience leading products across SaaS and enterprise environments, Hamzah will share practical lessons on how product teams can embrace AI without losing sight of customer value, strong product thinking, and long-term product health.
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SPEAKER BIOS
Vladimir Pronin
Vladimir is a Principal Product Manager at Holland & Barrett leading app-first transformation and platform strategy across multiple squads. His work spans omnichannel experiences, loyalty, platform evolution, and AI-assisted customer experiences. Before moving into product leadership, he spent over a decade in mobile engineering and leadership roles, giving him deep expertise across mobile platforms, scalability, and delivery.
He is also the co-founder of Nova Ocean and Mindlist, where he builds and scales consumer products hands-on.
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-pronin-growth/
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Hamzah Hafesji
Hamzah is Head of Product, People & WFM at OneAdvanced and an experienced product leader with a background spanning SaaS, hospitality, education, HR, agriculture, and non-profit sectors. His experience includes scaling products through strategy, pricing, go-to-market execution, and AI-driven transformation initiatives.
Alongside his product leadership work, Hamzah is also a co-founder, mentor, and active contributor to Birmingham’s product and startup community.
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamzahhafesji/
👥 Agenda
- 6:30 PM - Arrival, Networking & Food
- 7:00 PM - Welcome
- 7:10 PM - Talk - Vladimir Pronin
- 7:50 PM - Break
- 8:00 PM - Talk - Hamzah Hafesji
- 8:35 PM - Q&A
- 8:50 PM - Networking
- 9:30 PM - Event Ends
🍕 Food & Drinks
Thanks to our sponsor AND Digital, we’ll have pizza and drinks available, and we'll be ready to connect!
🤝 Thanks to our Sponsors
AND Digital – A digital delivery partner helping ambitious companies build world-class digital capabilities and close the digital skills gap.
x+why Foundry – A flexible workspace provider combining purpose-driven design with entrepreneurial energy to create impactful workspaces across the UK.
Coinley – An entirely new payment infrastructure, built with blockchain technology, to simplify global crypto transactions, empowering modern businesses with crypto payments.
IntelStream UK – A Birmingham-based content and storytelling company, providing professional photography, videography and PR content for events.
