#842: Braze Chief Product Officer Kevin Wang on how AI has forever changed product development

With AI promising to accelerate everything, is the most important role for a leader now to be the one who knows when to hit the brakes? Agility requires a balance between the rapid adoption of new technologies and the strategic wisdom to know which ones will actually deliver customer value. It's less about moving fast and more about moving in the right direction. Today, we're going to talk about how AI has permanently changed product development. But while it enables teams to tackle more problems faster than ever, the real challenge has shifted to keeping pace with rising customer expectations. This new landscape requires a shift in product leadership—from simply adopting trends to discerning real value, and using human judgment and creativity to decide where AI can make the biggest impact, and where it’s just noise. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Kevin Wang, Chief Product Officer at Braze. About Kevin Wang Kevin Wang is the Chief Product Officer at Braze, where he leads the definition of Braze’s product roadmap and R&D efforts, as well as managing and scaling the Product Management and Product Design teams. Kevin joined Braze as its fifth employee in 2012, helping to build the first product sold to customers and the early engineering team. He’s since held a variety of roles across product management, engineering, engineering management, and technical recruiting. Prior to Braze, Kevin was a consultant at Accenture focusing on the energy sector. Kevin holds a B.S. in Brain & Cognitive Sciences from MIT. Kevin Wang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-wang-96131916/ Resources Braze: https://www.braze.com/ The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://aglbrnd.co/r/2868abd8085a9703 Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://aglbrnd.co/r/d15ec37a537c0d74 We’re proud to be a media partner for #MAICON26 - Oct. 13-15! Learn how AI can power your marketing and business and help you grow smarter. Use code AGILE150 to save! https://aglbrnd.co/r/7fe458ced0f04658 Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://aglbrnd.co/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://aglbrnd.co/r/35ded3ccfb6716ba Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company