From Curiosity to Execution: How CPO Ravi Ramsaran Drives Product Excellence
Feb 18, 2025
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Ravi Ramsaran, Chief Product Officer at Nextria, has over 20 years of experience in product management and software development. He discusses how to unite teams around a strong product vision and leverage customer insights. Ravi shares his 'structured curiosity' framework for exploring new opportunities while maintaining focus on current priorities. He offers strategies for navigating market shifts with data-driven pivots and effective communication, emphasizing the importance of building trust among stakeholders to foster innovation.
Ravi Ramsaran emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture of curiosity and collaboration among cross-functional teams to enhance product vision and execution.
The podcast discusses how empathy and transparent communication improve relationships between product managers and internal stakeholders, boosting alignment and trust.
Deep dives
The Role of Empathy in Product Management
Empathy is emerging as a crucial skill for product managers, extending beyond understanding customers to also encompass internal stakeholders like developers and marketing teams. Effective product management relies on the ability to engage in transparent communication, allowing product managers to connect with their teams on a personal level. Building such connections makes it easier to advocate for customer needs and creates a sense of shared purpose. The necessity for empathy will only grow, requiring product managers to share their experiences openly to foster collaboration and understanding.
Bridging Communication Gaps with Developers
Tensions often arise between product managers and development teams, primarily due to differing perspectives and priorities. Product managers frequently focus on customer needs, while developers remain fixated on the technical aspects of their work. To bridge this gap, it is essential to understand what motivates team members individually and to present product features in a way that reflects customer sentiment. Presenting demos in the voice of the customer helps developers grasp the impact of their work, enabling them to align better with the intended outcomes.
Innovation in a Risk-Averse Environment
The challenge of fostering innovation within strictly regulated industries requires a dual-approach development model. By creating separate teams for rapid experimentation and stable product launches, product managers can encourage innovation while maintaining governance standards. This approach allows experimental teams to learn quickly without impacting the mission-critical functions of their stable counterparts. Effective communication between the two teams ensures that successful experiments can be transitioned into reliable, scalable products.
The Importance of Transparent Communication
Product managers need to maintain open lines of communication with stakeholders to build trust and avoid misalignment. Being upfront about project risks and expectations helps manage stakeholder perceptions and prevents unpleasant surprises. Cultivating genuine relationships based on transparency can transform how teams engage with product managers and can enhance the overall productivity of the team. As the landscape of product management evolves, mastering communicative and empathetic skills will be essential for future directors of product initiatives.
Meet Ravi Ramsaran, Chief Product Officer at Nextria, who’s built a reputation for turning bold ideas into tangible products. In this episode, he and host Rina Alexin explore uniting teams around a product vision, leveraging deep customer insights, and staying resilient through market shifts. Hear how Ravi fosters a culture of curiosity to deliver winning outcomes time and again.
Key Topics Discussed in This Episode
Key topic #1
Ravi’s foundational approach to building trust and alignment among cross-functional teams, ensuring every stakeholder—from UX to engineering—owns the product vision and stays laser-focused on delivering real value.
Key topic #2
The “structured curiosity” framework Nextria uses to explore emerging opportunities, from cutting-edge AI features to refining legacy systems, and how it accelerates discovery without derailing ongoing priorities.
Key topic #3
Strategies for staying nimble when the market throws you curveballs, including data-driven pivots and transparent communication that galvanizes teams instead of causing chaos.
Why Listen to This Episode?
In this thought-provoking episode, you’ll gain:
Real-world tips on leading product teams through changing markets
A blueprint for harnessing curiosity as a competitive advantage
Methods for balancing bold experimentation with disciplined execution
Insights on building a trust-centered culture that drives innovation
Discover how one CPO’s obsession with customer needs shapes every product decision.
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