Adding GenAI Without Losing the Plot - a conversation with Suba Vasudevan of Mozilla.org

In this episode of Product Rising, host Shannon Peavey talks with Diane Sadowski-Joseph, co-founder and Head of Product at Clarinet.io, about what it takes to lead people through profound workplace changes created by artificial intelligence. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in organizational transformation, Diane explains why successful AI adoption requires more than new tools. Organizations must address human behavior, systems and processes, and the broader organizational ecosystem, including incentives, expectations, governance, and accountability. The conversation examines the emotional reality beneath AI transformation: fear of missing out, fear of jumping in, fear of job impact, ego pain, fatigue, and uncertainty about whether hard-earned expertise will retain its value. Diane offers a practical definition of psychological safety and explains why leaders build trust by being honest about what is known, what remains uncertain, how decisions are made, and where employees genuinely have influence. Diane and Shannon also explore the limits of bottom-up AI experimentation, the need for leaders to become capable AI decision-makers, realistic timelines for organizational change, and why time saved is not automatically a return on investment. For product leaders carrying the dual burden of building AI into products while also changing how their teams work, Diane shares concrete ways to learn out loud, automate work chores, use customer transcripts as organizational intelligence, and create progress without expecting people to operate like machines. If you are trying to move an organization forward while acknowledging the human costs and uncertainties of AI-driven change, this episode offers a candid, grounded, and hopeful guide. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:32 An approach to durable organizational change 02:58 Why AI change feels faster & more pervasive than past transformations 05:20 The speed-psychology link and the fears shaping AI adoption 07:02 Why relentlessly positive AI messaging can alienate employees 08:32 The truths leaders avoid 09:45 What psychological safety means 12:09 Building trust through transparency 14:20 Supporting leaders through change 16:03 Handling emotional reactions 18:09 Ego pain and the threat to professional identity 23:24 A more honest response to 'AI will not take your job' 24:57 Why bottom-up experimentation is not an AI strategy 27:39 How to improve difficult decisions 32:31 Common AI transformation scenarios 35:55 Being AI-native takes time 37:56 Measuring ROI 43:06 A practical starting point 44:51 Learning out loud 46:15 The dual AI challenge facing product leaders 47:44 How to automate internal work before burnout 48:48 Transcripts, work chores, and AI-enabled product learning 50:57 Final takeaway 52:02 Closing remarks Resources Where to find Diane Sadowski-Joseph https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianesadowski/ Clarinet https://clarinet.io/ People and Organizations Mentioned Claude Code | Anthropic Anthropic's coding tool Anthropic Academy Official Anthropic learning resources for building fluency with Claude OpenAI Academy Free official courses and learning resources for developing practical AI skills.https://academy.openai.com/ Invisible Technologies The AI operations company mentioned in connection with Clarinet product leader Salim Mahdi. Where to find our hosts: Shannon Peavey https://www.linkedin.com/in/spmad/

Some people seem to move forward quickly, like taking on larger roles, driving meaningful change, and increasing their impact, while others with similar experience and capability stall. The gap widens, especially in highly ambiguous and uncertain times with no playbooks to fall back on. As AI accelerates execution and organizational structures become less defined, the way product leaders create impact is changing. Roles are more ambiguous, influence is less tied to title, and expectations continue to expand without clear boundaries In this new series hosted by Jo Saunders, a long time member of the Women In Product community and founder of AscendFaster, the discussion focuses on how to increase your impact. Jo's guest, Molly Graham, is a writer, speaker and the host of the TED podcast WorkLife. She writes the popular substack, Lessons. And has had a long successful career in tech. Molly is definitely someone who has had real impact in many roles and has written and spoken about what it takes to succeed in those high pressure and sometimes ambiguous environments. 📚Resources: WorkLife with Molly Graham - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worklife-with-molly-graham/id1346314086

Elizabeth Ames flips the script and interviews Carmen Palmer about this year’s Women In Product Conference. Titled Changemakers: Leadership Edition. The conference is designed to bring together executive level women to share, collaborate and learn from one another as we address the rapid changes all around the tech industry. Carmen Palmer is the CEO of Women In Product. Prior to joining Women In Product she was the CPO at MarketCast. She has held senior product roles at NBCUniversal, Yahoo! and DemandMedia. Carmen holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. In this episode Elizabeth and Carmen discuss this year’s Women In Product Conference at the Computer History Museum in October. Carmen shares details on the speakers, the format, the theme and most importantly the goal. They also discuss some of the key overall programs of Women In Product and how to be a part of this vital community.  00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:57 Theme Change Makers 03:05 What Attendees Gain 06:31 Interactive Format Overview 06:54 Keynotes and Tracks 09:48 Beyond AI Topics 15:25 Networking as a Superpower 21:07 Who Should Attend 24:33 Programs for All Levels 28:11 Career Advice Embrace Uncertainty 32:33 Life Outside Work Authentic Self 35:12 Final Invitation and Wrap In The Lead is a monthly series on Product Rising sharing conversations with a wide range of industry leaders hosted by Carmen Palmer, CEO of Women In Product. Where to find more information on the 2026 Women In Product Conference including an incredible line up of speakers. ✨Where to find Elizabeth: On LinkedIn

The job market today is tough. AI is making it more difficult for companies to find qualified candidates, and for qualified candidates to standout. Two tech industry veterans dug in to find out what is going on and wrote an eye opening article in the Harvard Business Review about what is going on and how to improve the system for everyone. Shraddha Sunil and Mudit Saraf spoke with Elizabeth Ames about their recent article and recommendations for improving the system for all participants. 00:00 Welcome and HBR Article 02:07 Why Study Recruiting AI 03:11 Research and Interviews 05:39 AI Flooding Applications 08:22 Recruiters Lose Resume Trust 10:23 Broken Signals and School Filters 12:41 Interview Cheating and Proxy Hires 17:26 Entry Level vs Senior Roles 19:37 Company Costs and ATS Changes 22:44 AI Interviewing Tools Explained 25:59 Rubrics Privacy and Bias 31:54 Surfacing Hidden Talent 33:28 Structured AI Interviews 36:07 Fixes for Hiring Leaders 40:18 Risks of Closed Hiring 43:18 Advice for Job Seekers 46:32 Build Projects and Specialize 48:21 Wrap Up and Thanks 📚Resources: HBR article “AI Has Broken Hiring. Here’s How To Fix It”

The job market today is tough. So why would you step away from a secure job with a big tech company to start a company from scratch? Turns out there are plenty of reasons. Kasha Stewart took that leap of faith this year and she hasn’t looked back. She’s building, learning and bringing all of her knowledge and skills to bear as she leads a Ed Tech startup with her two co-founders. It’s easy to get focused on staying in a safe job, or stepping into the grind of looking for a new one. Turns out there are other options. Here’s one of them. 00:00 Welcome Back Kasha 01:11 Why She Left Adobe 03:42 Pride And Plateau 07:02 Choosing Entrepreneurship 08:57 Founder Story Spark 12:05 The Problem To Solve 16:13 Creative Roots To Product 19:07 Startup Honeymoon Reality 23:23 Founder Resources Communities 27:09 Talking To VCs Early 29:10 Advisors Equity Basics 30:20 Validate Market And TAM 31:36 Clarity And Focus 33:10 Systematic Execution Habits 33:38 Pilots Metrics And Ambiguity 34:27 Profitability Reality Check 35:17 Rejection And Storytelling 38:48 Pitching Lessons In Real Time 41:17 AI Speed For Founders 44:50 Human Creativity With AI 47:10 Jobs Skills In The AI Era 51:42 Preparing To Make The Leap 54:21 Mindset Market And Small Tests 01:00:08 Final Advice And Wrap Up 📚Resources: FoundHer & FundHer - https://foundherandfundher.com