Product Talk American Express VP of Product on Building a Scalable B2C Growth Engine
Jan 14, 2026
Jose Quesada, Vice President of Product Management at American Express, shares his insights from over a decade of scaling their mobile app and crafting digital strategy. He discusses the crucial differences between vision and strategy, emphasizing the need for alignment. Jose outlines how to ground ambitious goals in execution and the importance of ongoing testing and customer feedback. He also delves into balancing personalization with scalability and how AI can enhance product workflows, making it a strategic partner rather than a replacement.
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Separate Vision From Strategy
- Vision is the long-term north star that provides direction and coherence for decisions.
- Strategy is the set of actions and hypotheses you will test to move toward that vision.
Amex Mobile's Bold North Star
- Amex set a bold vision for Amex Mobile to 'set the standard' for mobile apps and align with the company's customer-experience mission.
- That vision guided design choices and linked mobile product goals to Amex's broader mission.
Make Visions Ambitious But Testable
- Make your vision ambitious to excite teams, then ground it by planning measurable progress each year.
- Translate the vision into yearly hypotheses and test them quickly in the market.