In Episode 26, Justin Woods & Phil Hornby reflect on the biggest lessons from Season 2 of Talking Roadmaps as they unpack the evolving role of product operations. From product ops as a “force multiplier” rather than process policing, to balancing standardisation with team autonomy, the discussion explores AI’s impact on product operating models, roadmap governance, tooling, leadership buy-in, and why product ops may become the team that “designs the machine” instead of simply running it. They also preview Season 3’s focus on go-to-market strategy.

Bonus Episode – In “Are you making real progress?”, Justin Woods speaks with Tim Herbig about moving beyond “alibi progress” and focusing on real product impact. They explore how strategy, OKRs, and discovery must work together, why teams mistake activity for progress, and how to reach “informed conviction” in decision-making. Tim also shares practical ways to prioritise problems, align discovery, and avoid over-reliance on frameworks.

In episode 25 of Talking Roadmaps, Phil Hornby speaks with Gerisha Nadaraju about how Product Operations enables momentum in scaling organisations. They explore when POps becomes necessary, how it drives alignment across teams, and why success depends on solving real organisational pain points rather than over-engineering processes. Gerisha also shares practical advice on adopting a product mindset, focusing on adoption, and balancing short-term fixes with long-term strategy.

In Episode 24 of Talking Roadmaps, Justin Woods speaks with Jake Burghardt about whether Product Operations can multiply the impact of research. They explore how research often goes unused, how Product Ops can operationalise insights across teams, and practical ways organisations can ensure discovery work actually influences product decisions and roadmaps.

In this bonus episode of Talking Roadmaps, Phil Hornby sits down with Matt LeMay to unpack what “impact” really means for product teams. They dig into existential business goals, why teams over-optimize proxy metrics, the dangers of the low-impact death spiral, and how tools like One Page / One Hour and multi-option framing help teams trade velocity theatre for real commercial outcomes.

In this Talking Roadmaps bonus episode, Justin Woods speaks with Thomas Hartmann about why many B2B organisations struggle to move from project mode to true product mode. They explore how roadmaps expose deeper organisational behaviour, the risks of customer-driven feature delivery, the seven core challenges behind project thinking, and why scalability—not frameworks—is the real driver of product transformation.

In Episode 19 of Talking Roadmaps, Phil Hornby speaks with Becky Flint about why product operations must operate with a portfolio lens to maximise organisational impact. They explore the evolution of product operating models, how shared context accelerates decision-making, and why portfolio allocation often drives greater strategic ROI than individual product choices. Becky also breaks down the orchestration role of product ops in connecting strategy, investment, and delivery across teams.

In Episode 16 of Talking Roadmaps, host Justin Woods speaks with Dr. Satyavati Kharde about the evolving role of automation and AI in Product Operations. Satya explores her “Clarity Stack” framework, showing how solopreneurs and teams alike can streamline workflows through automation, metrics, and data-driven insights. Together, they discuss how Product Ops can evolve from reactive support to a proactive, strategic force built on clarity and efficiency.

In this bonus episode of Talking Roadmaps, Phil Hornby speaks with Nesrine Changuel about her new book and the power of designing for delight. Nesrine shares how companies like Google, Spotify, and Skype infused emotional connection into products, why “deep delight” drives retention, revenue, and referrals, and how tools like the Delight Grid help product teams map functional and emotional motivators. Discover practical ways to prioritize delight in your product roadmap.