How to embrace the uncertain future of product — Erica Wass (Product Consultant)

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Jul 23, 2025

Erica Wass, Principal Product Consultant at Brainmates, dives into the importance of strategic foresight for product teams. She discusses horizon scanning and scenario planning as essential tools to navigate uncertainty and enhance decision-making. The conversation reveals how generative AI can democratize foresight tools while emphasizing critical thinking. Erica also offers insights on backcasting and how to prepare teams for various plausible futures, ensuring they remain resilient against disruptions. A must-listen for product professionals aiming to thrive in an ever-changing landscape!

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INSIGHT

Strategic Foresight Importance

Strategic foresight means anticipating and preparing for multiple future scenarios to de-risk strategies.
Product people must engage with future-focused thinking to impact business outcomes positively.

ADVICE

Product People Should Own Foresight

Every product person should understand their strategy and question assumptions to add value.
Product managers should proactively engage with foresight, even if others in the organization aren't.

INSIGHT

Horizon Scanning Powers Strategy

Horizon scanning detects weak signals that can become big trends over time.
Strategic scanning enables companies like Google to act early and successfully, such as acquiring Android.

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Erica Wass, Principal Product Consultant at Brainmates, joins the Product Experience podcast to share pragmatic tools for building strategic foresight into your roadmap. From horizon scanning to backcasting, this episode explores how product teams can harness future-focused techniques—bolstered by generative AI—to improve decision-making, resilience, and impact.

Chapters:
0:00 – Why foresight matters in product
1:00 – Introducing Erica Wass
2:30 – How product is changing
3:45 – The value of strategic foresight
5:00 – Clarifying the term and its importance
7:00 – Who owns foresight in the product org
10:00 – Techniques: Horizon scanning, scenario planning, backcasting
14:30 – Horizon scanning in action: Google & Android
16:00 – Scenario planning for resilience
21:00 – Tips on running scenario sessions
23:45 – Backcasting: Vision-first roadmapping
26:00 – Using AI to accelerate foresight
30:00 – Product team dynamics in the AI era
33:00 – Mistakes to avoid and balancing action with foresight
37:00 – Wrap-up and takeaways

Key Takeaways
— Horizon scanning helps teams identify early, weak signals that may grow into significant trends.
— Scenario planning enables resilience by preparing teams for a range of plausible futures.
— Backcasting flips traditional planning by working backward from a long-term goal to define near-term milestones.
— Generative AI can democratise access to foresight tools—when used with critical thinking and proper validation.
— Product professionals should take a proactive role in guiding strategic conversations, regardless of their title.
— Avoid extremes with AI: neither fear it nor over-rely on it. Use it as a pairing partner rather than a replacement.

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Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy'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. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether...