Product at Heart is one of the main product happenings in Europe. After speaking at last year’s event, I was back in Hamburg to soak in all the latest bubbling in the product world.

There were plenty of thought-provoking ideas, both on stage and off. Beyond the conference's red thread of courage, I walked away with a few key reflections: the necessity of going beyond productxplaining and progress alibi, the role of product ops, and how innovation sometimes shows up in the least expected places.

Here are my takeaways:

Get Out of Ourselves: Frameworks Are a Means, Not a Destination

There’s been a growing trend I’ve observed: the practice of product management is becoming rigid, with frameworks being treated like rulebooks. Too often, frameworks are used as a goal in themselves, rather than as tools to solve user problems and deliver business impact.

This theoretical approach—where frameworks are applied by the book and user-centricity is treated as the only priority—can lead to a lot of friction. Executives find it hard to communicate with product teams, and they don’t see the results product is supposed to deliver. “We follow the backlog, we solve user problems, but where’s the business impact?” Product quickly becomes a cost, not a profit center. Meanwhile, product practitioners feel stuck, chasing an ideal way of working that often doesn’t and can’t fit their reality.

I must not be the only person observing this trend as different talks on stage circled back on this idea.

Tim Herbig reminded us that using frameworks isn’t the goal—they’re just a way to align around what’s important. It’s not about using OKRs; it’s about aligning around a shared goal. And most importantly it is about creating impact, and not hiding ourselves behind progress alibi, where we think we are done only because we use a certain framework or process.
Fabrice des Mazery called out *productxplaining*, or using product jargon that only product people understand. It creates friction instead of building bridges.
Rich Mironov’s talk echoed similar ideas, with three key takeaways:
Speak your stakeholder’s language, not product jargon. And you’ll be in a better position to make your case
Work with numbers, but remember they’re just a ballpark, not an exact measure.
Attach ballpark estimates to your roadmap to create a baseline for comparing opportunities.
His last point struck me as simple but brilliant. Adding ballpark estimates to the roadmap forces stakeholders to think critically about priorities and helps align everyone on the "why" behind each opportunity. It also gives stakeholders more skin in the game—every new idea has to “beat” something else to make it onto the roadmap.

While I’ve worked with revenue estimates before, I’ve never thought of putting the numbers directly on the roadmap. I’ll definitely start doing that from now on.

Product ops or not product ops

The biggest question mark for me after the conference was around product operations. And I know this might ruffle some feathers.

I listened closely to Melissa Perri’s keynote and had plenty of conversations about it with others at the event. Still, I’m struggling to wrap my head around the concept.

What is Product Ops?

If I had to summarize Melissa Perri’s message, I would say that product ops help product teams by:

Centralizing data to make informed decisions,
Aligning the go-to-market (GTM) machinery,
Defining processes to streamline the above.

In short, product ops ensures that products are built based on insights coming from all the different parts of the org, shipped cohesively and that this process can be repeated

**A Role or a Responsibility?**

While I agree there’s a need for the responsibilities she described, I’m not convinced it requires a separate function. Maybe that’s because I haven’t worked in organizations as large as the ones Melissa mentioned, but I am skeptical.
Here’s why:
**Being an insights expert**: It’s tough for one person to centralize data across the entire company while deeply understanding every product. I’ve seen this handled well by analytics acting as a center of excellence and supporting product teams. I’m not sure what is the extra value of product ops, or if tis should replaces analytics that have a much deeper domain knowledge.
**AI entering the picture**: With the rise of AI, many of the tasks product ops would handle—like gathering and analyzing data—will become easier and faster. This leaves PMs more time for the harder tasks, like talking to customers and stakeholders.
**Shared responsibility**: GTM tasks don’t have to rest solely on product. As long as roles are clearly defined, these responsibilities can be shared across product, business development, marketing, and sales. It can also be a way for everyone to have more skin in the game.
**Interpersonal Relationships**: I’m also against outsourcing relationships. Collaboration is key in product, and the PM should feel the heat when it comes to making the product work. That’s hard to achieve when someone else is handling key relationships.Make it stand out

While I see the value in having clear responsibilities, I’m not convinced that product ops is the answer. It feels like an extra layer in an organization, especially as AI continues to develop. But I’m curious—if you’ve had success with product ops, I’d love to hear about it.

Innovation comes in unusual forms

One of the great things about Product at Heart is the learning that happens not just during the conference, but before and after, thanks to the incredible community it gathers. This year, I found myself reflecting on innovation in all its different shapes and forms.

On stage, my favorite talk came from a “non-product person,” Oliver Reichenstein. His ode to crafting and taking time to perfect things was a refreshing contrast to the usual narrative around rapid innovation. His idea? Sometimes, the way to stand out is to go against the trend.

He spoke about working without deadlines and focusing on details that few notice (like how a font rounds). But that type of innovation could take other shapes and forms, like investing in customer service when everyone else is cutting costs and relying on AI.

How can you go against the flow and stand out in the era of streamlining and making it all hyper-efficient? A philosophical question that I will for sure take with me.

Off the stage, I found myself equally inspired by the generosity of the product community. Whether it was the brave coachees who shared their challenges with me during a speed coaching session or fellow product professionals offering advice on growing their businesses, I was reminded of the power of collaboration and generosity—even among competitors.

In an era dominated by AI, it was refreshing to see that true innovation still comes from human connections, craft, and a willingness to do things differently.

If there’s one thing I’m taking home from Product at Heart, it’s that product management is about more than frameworks and processes. It’s about people, relationships, and being willing to question ourselves. Whether it’s in how we approach product operations or how we think about innovation, we need to keep pushing our practice to evolve and stand out.

He spoke about working without deadlines and focusing on details that few notice (like how a font rounds). But that type of innovation could take other shapes and forms, like investing in customer service when everyone else is cutting costs and relying on AI.
How can you go against the flow and stand out in the era of streamlining and making it all hyper-efficient? A philosophical question that I will for sure take with me.
Off the stage, I found myself equally inspired by the generosity of the product community. Whether it was the brave coachees who shared their challenges with me during a speed coaching session or fellow product professionals offering advice on growing their businesses, I was reminded of the power of collaboration and generosity—even among competitors.
**In an era dominated by AI, it was refreshing to see that true innovation still comes from human connections, craft, and a willingness to do things differently.**

If there’s one thing I’m taking home from Product at Heart, it’s that product management is about more than frameworks and processes. It’s about people, relationships, and being willing to question ourselves. Whether it’s in how we approach product operations or how we think about innovation, we need to keep pushing our practice to evolve and stand out..

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