Warner Music President on Transforming Tech from Cost Center to Revenue Generator | Ariel Bardin | E268

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Jun 4, 2025

Ariel Bardin, President of Technology at Warner Music Group and former Google executive, shares insights on digital transformation in the music industry. He challenges the traditional MVP mindset, promoting his 'Minimum Proud Product' philosophy to build better artist-facing tools. Ariel reveals his unique '3-sh***ts' framework for evaluating product managers and emphasizes the importance of culture in driving change. He also discusses leveraging AI to boost artist revenues while fostering a culture of trust and creativity within the organization.

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ADVICE

The Three Shits Rule for PMs

Evaluate product managers by if they do, start, and improve work continuously.
Focus on execution, initiating new projects, and improving organizational processes horizontally.

INSIGHT

Leadership Commitment Fuels Transformation

Digital transformation depends on committed leadership reflected by budgets and headcount.
Warner hired 200 engineers and changed processes to drive the tech transformation.

INSIGHT

Phase Two: Building Credibility

Building credibility with business units requires solving practical pain points first.
Phase two focused on delivering useful artist-related data reports to build trust.

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In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia sits down with Ariel Ban, President of Technology at Warner Music Group, live from the ProductCon stage. Warner Music Group, home to some of the world’s most iconic artists, is undergoing a bold transformation under Ariel’s leadership. A former Google and YouTube executive, Ariel brings a startup mindset to a 900-person organization within one of the most tradition-rich industries: music.

In this conversation, Ariel shares his unfiltered approach to digital transformation—from replacing bloated MVP culture with his “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy to building real-time dashboards that empower artists with actionable data. He also dives into the infamous “3-sh***ts” framework he uses to evaluate product managers, and how he’s instilling a culture of trust, ownership, and creativity across a global tech org.

What you’ll learn:
- Ariel’s journey from big tech to the music industry and his unique take on what transformation really looks like.
- Why MVPs are a “disease” and how to build products artists and fans are proud of.
- The strategy behind launching artist-facing tools like real-time revenue dashboards.
- How Warner Music is leveraging AI to unlock value in a highly creative, fast-changing space.

Key Takeaways👇:
- Redefining Digital Transformation: Ariel argues that real change starts with culture, not tech—and shares how to lead with clarity at scale.
- Artist-Centric Product Thinking: Empowering creators through data requires more than just tools; it requires trust, transparency, and a proud product experience.
- From MVP to MPP: His “Minimum Proud Product” philosophy offers a sharp critique of default startup practices and a new way to drive quality and impact.

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Credits:
Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Guest: Ariel Bardin