Having better discussions about AI, and a Fireside Chat with Anjali Joshi

It's been exactly a year since the relaunch of ProductTank Oxford, and we're excited to kick off 2026 with another great evening of talks, networking and drinks!

First up, coach, author, and co-host of The Product Experience podcast Randy Silver is joining us to deliver a timely and actionable talk, and take your questions, on how to make better strategic decisions around AI, and respond productively to the constant pressure to "AI all the things!".

Following a short break, we're then delighted to welcome a special guest from Silicon Valley, former VP of Product at Google, Advisor, and Board member of multiple companies including Xero and Persistent Systems, Anjali Joshi. While only in the UK for a few days, Anjali has agreed to join us for a fireside chat about her 30 year career in engineering and product management, including 12-years leading product teams for a wide variety of Google services, including Search, Maps, Translate, News, and Finance.

As always, we meet in the Wadham Room of the King's Arms pub, which is immediately on your left as you enter the pub. Doors open at 6pm, and we will kick off around 6:45pm. We hope to see you there!

From Magic Pixie Dust to Strategic Decisions - Having better discussions about AI

If you've ever had someone ask, "Hey, can you just add {feature} in with AI?", this session is for you. We'll cover:
•⁠ ⁠​Why "AI" Breaks Your Prioritisation: How the hype around artificial intelligence escalates subjective bias and derails strategic decision-making.
•⁠ ⁠​The Cynefin Advantage: A proven framework, adapted for AI — helping you distinguish between processes that need simple automation and those requiring human judgment.
•⁠ ⁠​Your Tech Stack Decision Tree: From RPA to Agentic AI — which approaches work for Clear, Complicated, Complex, and Chaotic domains (with real examples).
•⁠ ⁠​Making Better Decisions, Faster: How to have collaborative conversations across teams that turn "Magic Pixie Dust" requests into prioritised, well-scoped product opportunities.

About Randy Silver
Randy is a Leadership & Product Coach, Consultant and Community Builder. He’s held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events.

Randy is the co-host & founder of The Product Experience podcast, and runs communities for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

About Anjali Joshi
Anjali Joshi is a distinguished technology leader and board director with over three decades of experience in engineering and product strategy. During her 12-year tenure as Vice President of Product Management at Google, she was instrumental in scaling the world’s most ubiquitous digital services, leading product teams for Search, Maps, Translate, News, and Finance.

Beyond her executive career, Anjali serves as a professional director on the boards of global companies such as Xero, Lattice Semiconductor, and Persistent Systems. Her foundational career includes roles as EVP of Engineering at Covad Communications and technical leadership at AT&T Bell Labs. She is a Distinguished Alumna of IIT Kanpur and holds Master’s degrees in Computer Engineering from SUNY and Management Science from Stanford University.