In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder & CEO at Product School, interviews Tim Simmons, Chief Product Officer at Walmart International, the retail giant serving 255 million customers weekly across 18 countries. Tim is leading a massive transformation to move from decentralized tech stacks to global platforms that empower local innovation.

Tim explains why complexity is actually a competitive advantage when training AI. He dives deep into Agentic AI and the concept of Orchestrators—systems that manage workflows between agents to automate tasks like user story generation with 88% accuracy. He also shares the strategy behind the Walmart Translation Platform (WTP), which has cut translation costs by 99% while increasing speed and trust.

What you'll learn:

• The Orchestrator Strategy: How to build AI systems where project manager agents coordinate tasks for maximum efficiency.
• Global vs. Local: A framework for building core platforms that scale while allowing for hyper-local customization.
• The ROI of AI: How Walmart tracks adoption and accuracy, not just productivity.
• Human in the Loop: Why keeping humans involved in AI workflows actually makes the models smarter over time.
  
  

Key takeaways:

• Complexity is Data: The more you expose AI to your organization's complexity, the more resilient and accurate it becomes.
• Trust Through Nuance: Successful localization isn't just word-for-word translation; it's about capturing intent to build customer trust.
• Platform Discipline: Moving from bespoke builds to multi-tenant codebases is essential for scaling innovation globally.

Credits:

Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Guest: Tim Simmons

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• Join Product School's free events here
• Find out more about Product School here

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO & Founder at Product School, interviews Aparna Sinha, SVP of Product at Vercel, the cloud platform recently valued at $9.3 billion following a $300 million Series F. Aparna joins us to discuss how Vercel is powering the next generation of AI-native applications.

Drawing from her experience at Google Kubernetes and Pear VC, Aparna reveals how Vercel empowers Teams of One to ship faster than ever. She explores the cultural shift required to build in the AI era—moving from rigid planning to rapid experimentation and iterating to greatness.

What you'll learn:

• How Vercel’s Team of One philosophy maximizes developer leverage.
• Why shipping imperfect products early is crucial for AI strategy.
• The mechanics of Hybrid Pricing to balance AI costs and value.
• How to use internal dogfooding to accelerate product quality.

Key takeaways:

• Speed is Survival: In the AI era, waiting for perfection means falling behind.
• Agency over Hierarchy: Small, autonomous teams outperform large structures.
• Price for Value: Align AI pricing with user outcomes, not just compute costs.

Credits:

Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Guest: Aparna Sinha

Social Links:

• Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here
• Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
• Join Product School's free events here
• Find out more about Product School here

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, CEO & Founder at Product School, interviews Anique Drumright, General Manager and VP of Product at Rippling, the workforce management platform valued at $16.8 billion with over $570 million in ARR.

Anique is a product veteran who has shaped high-growth teams at Uber, TripActions, and Loom. Now at Rippling, she helps lead a workforce of over 4,000 employees, including 100 former founders, to maintain the speed and ownership typically lost at scale. In this conversation, Anique breaks down how Rippling successfully operates as a compound startup and why product leaders must evolve into General Managers.

What you’ll learn:

• How to pivot from managing a backlog to owning a P&L as a GM.
• The Compound Startup framework for consolidating enterprise categories.
• How to build high-performing teams by hiring for "founder-level" curiosity.
• Strategies for proving ROI to enterprise customers to drive platform adoption.
  
  

Key takeaways:

• Go and See: Why leaders must personally investigate customer issues to set the bar for quality.
• Singular Obsession: How to organize teams to maintain focus and velocity as you scale.
• Automating ROI: How Rippling uses product efficiency to justify headcount reduction for clients.

Credits:
Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Guest: Anique Drumright

Social Links:

• Follow our Podcast on Tik Tok here
• Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
• Join Product School's free events here
• Find out more about Product School here