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AI Product Leader

AI Product Leader

By: Polly Allen
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Weekly conversations with AI’s top product leaders. Join Polly Allen as she discovers the paths to success in the world of AI.

© 2026 AI Product Leader
Economics
Episodes
  • 52: AI Search Is Replacing Google Faster Than Anyone Expected (with Maggie Mae)
    Jan 19 2026

    For more on building AI products and careers, along with early course announcement and special pricing, subscribe to the AI Career Boost mailing list at https://aicareerboost.com/interested


    THE GUEST

    Maggie May is a sharp, high-velocity product and tech executive who has built and scaled lovable products across real estate, accessibility, and fintech. From the startup trenches to CPO seats, she’s known for pairing speed with substance—shipping fast while never losing sight of user trust and delight. At Tomo and AudioEye, Maggie led teams with a relentless focus on impact, inclusive design, and staying one step ahead of what customers and markets actually need. Now, through AskAndBeFound.com, she’s focused on helping service-based businesses get discovered on ChatGPT, bridging the gap between AI-era search and the real humans ready to serve.


    THE SUMMARY

    AEO/GEO is the new SEO power play: The episode dives deep into why AI-engine optimisation matters more than people realise. Traditional SEO alone won’t get you discovered in LLM search — and many businesses are flying blind thinking Reddit comments or keyword-stuffing will save them. The real levers are directories, reviews, and structured data that AI can actually understand.

    The 3-part framework every business should use: Maggie breaks it down to Off-Page (directories + reviews), On-Page (classic SEO), and Technical SEO (schema files + inline markup). If any of these pieces are missing, AI simply won’t trust your content or know who you are. She makes it clear: this isn’t optional anymore — it’s the minimum viable digital presence.

    Myth-busting what doesn’t work in AI search: There’s a widespread belief that you need to grind on Reddit or that AI suppresses AI-generated content. Both are wrong. The episode makes the argument that AI rewards clarity and structure, not internet folklore. If reviews and directories aren’t part of your strategy, you’re wasting your time.

    Schema is the unsung hero of AI discovery: The conversation highlights how installing the right schema can transform visibility — sometimes in under an hour. Not because it's a “hack,” but because it gives AI exactly what it wants: clean, structured context. Most businesses don’t even know this step exists.

    If AI doesn’t understand who you are, you don’t exist: One of the strongest opinions throughout the episode: ambiguity kills discoverability. If your business name, phone, and address aren’t consistent across platforms, AI drops you instantly. The margin for error is zero — AI doesn’t “kind of guess.”

    Entrepreneurship + multi-passionate careers are a feature, not a bug: Maggie’s career arc reinforces that being multi-passionate is now an advantage — not something to hide. Each curiosity thread strengthens the others. The episode makes a strong case that exploring multiple domains is the modern form of career compounding.

    Start building with AI, even if you’re intimidated: The final takeaway: the only way to learn AI is hands-on. Break things. Save versions. Ask the model questions. Whether you’re using LLMs to build products or grow your service business, the barrier to entry is the lowest it’s ever been — and the upside has never been higher.


    THE SHOW

    Weekly conversations with the AI’s top product leaders. Join Polly Allen as she discovers the paths to success in the world of AI.


    THE LINKS

    Have a question you want us to answer? Send it through to support@aicareerboost.com


    Maggie Mae

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-mae-seattle


    My links

    LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollymallen/⁠

    AI Ca

    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • 51: How AI Could Prevent Critical Hospital Failures (with Sudha Kumar)
    Jan 5 2026

    For more on building AI products and careers, along with early course announcement and special pricing, subscribe to the AI Career Boost mailing list at https://aicareerboost.com/interested


    THE GUEST

    Sudha Kumar is a powerhouse product leader who thrives at the intersection of data, compliance, and user impact. With more than a decade of experience scaling B2B SaaS platforms and modernizing federal IT systems, she has delivered measurable outcomes across sectors, from accelerating healthcare audits by 30% to driving product revenue across more than 50 companies. Known for her ability to simplify complex workflows without sacrificing rigor, Sudha brings deep technical fluency and a sharp sense of user empathy to every challenge. Now focused on shaping the next generation of AI-powered enterprise tools, she is dedicated to advancing system compliance, reliability, and trust in the AI age.


    THE SUMMARY

    Data is the real truth-teller in product work — The conversation emphasises that users rarely behave the way product teams expect. Data becomes the only reliable signal to understand real usage patterns and close the gap between intention and reality.

    Technical fluency massively elevates a PM’s impact: Being able to query raw logs, validate theories, and guide engineering with precision turns a PM into a high-leverage operator—especially in platform roles, where hidden complexity and technical debt drive long-term success or failure.

    Compliance is an AI goldmine: Compliance work is repetitive, high-stakes, and deeply dependent on human interpretation. Automating the mapping of findings to regulatory standards shows immediate value, especially when errors can trigger hospital shutdown risks.

    AI performance reflects the clarity of the human behind it: Iterating on prompts, supplying examples, and defining rules tightly is what improves accuracy. AI only becomes “smart” when the PM is intentional, structured and thorough with the inputs.

    Data harmonisation is the hidden prerequisite for real AI adoption: At Renovo, six companies with six definitions for basic concepts made clear that most AI problems are data problems. Without consistent definitions and clean context, AI becomes a guessing machine—not a reliable system.

    Mindset is the real barrier to entering AI, not skill: Sudha describes the early fear of being “left behind” and how the shift happened when she realised AI is a partner that frees PMs from tactical noise so they can do the strategic work they’re actually paid for.

    Feeling behind means you’re already ahead: The episode closes on a strong, counterintuitive insight: the moment you worry you’re behind is the moment you’ve already started moving. Diving in early, experimenting, and iterating is the real differentiator.


    THE SHOW

    Weekly conversations with the AI’s top product leaders. Join Polly Allen as she discovers the paths to success in the world of AI.


    THE LINKS

    Have a question you want us to answer? Send it through to support@aicareerboost.com


    Sudha Kumar

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhadkumar


    My links

    LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollymallen/⁠

    AI Career Boost: ⁠https://www.aicareerboost.com/⁠

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • 50: AI Agents vs. The Healthcare Bureaucracy (with Taylor Ahlgren)
    Dec 22 2025

    For more on building AI products and careers, along with early course announcement and special pricing, subscribe to the AI Career Boost mailing list at https://aicareerboost.com/interested


    THE GUEST

    Taylor Algren is a product leader, founder, and strategist with over a decade of experience tackling real-world challenges at the intersection of tech, health, and global operations. He’s launched scalable platforms, advised early-stage startups, and brings a unique mix of systems thinking and human-centered design to every project. Now building a stealth-mode AI health-tech startup focused on chronic disease care, Taylor is known for his execution, mentorship, and commitment to meaningful, equitable innovation.


    THE SUMMARY

    Impact starts with lived experience — and this founder proves it. The episode dives into how years navigating the healthcare system as a cardiomyopathy patient revealed just how broken, bureaucratic, and non-human-centric chronic disease care really is. The constant cycle of refills, prior authorisations, pharmacy stock outages, and insurer rules creates a system that pushes patients to give up — at the cost of their long-term health.

    AI isn’t a buzzword here — it’s a survival tool: The conversation highlights how agentic AI can step into the administrative chaos patients face: tracking expiring prescriptions, pre-auth deadlines, pharmacy stock issues, and even escalating tasks clinicians don’t have time for. The strong opinion: AI isn’t replacing clinicians — it’s replacing the waste that’s burning them out and harming patients.

    Easy Medicine" tackles the most painful, immediate problem: cost: Instead of starting with the flashy stuff, the MVP focuses on something every chronic patient feels — medication prices. By pulling manufacturer coupons, GoodRx prices, and Cost Plus Drugs data, the tool delivers real savings instantly. It’s practical, high-impact, and built entirely using modern AI coding tools, no traditional coding required.

    Rapid AI-powered building is the new superpower: The episode pushes a strong stance: don’t start with a course — start by building. A one-hour prototype is now more valuable than weeks of prep. The biggest skill in AI product building isn’t knowing how to code; it’s knowing what’s worth building, validating fast, and iterating with real users. Tools like Lovable, Bubble, Replit, and Figma have lowered the barrier to near-zero.

    Purpose drives better products: Taylor’s journey from Botswana to Google to chronic illness to founder underscores a theme: when you’ve lived the problem, you build differently. His story is a reminder that the most meaningful AI solutions don’t start with technology — they start with empathy and frustration with the status quo.


    THE SHOW

    Weekly conversations with the AI’s top product leaders. Join Polly Allen as she discovers the paths to success in the world of AI.


    THE LINKS

    Have a question you want us to answer? Send it through to support@aicareerboost.com


    Taylor Ahlgren

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorahlgren


    My links

    LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollymallen/⁠

    AI Career Boost: ⁠https://www.aicareerboost.com/⁠

    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
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