Marketing Consultant
Watch our latest roundtable, How to Transition from CPO to CEO, featuring three top industry experts who share their insights on how a Chief Product Officer can prepare themselves for the next step in their career, how to become a Chief Executive Officer.
Section 1: Broadening the Lens: Expanding focus beyond product to business leadership
Understand how a CPO can shift from a product-centric perspective to a company-wide strategic vision while managing financial metrics, building investor and shareholder confidence as well as continuing to balance product innovation with operational efficiency.
Section 2: From Execution to Vision: Defining and driving the company's long-term strategy
Discover how a CPO transitions from executing product roadmaps to envisioning the future of an entire organisation. Learn about identifying market opportunities, developing competitive strategies and how to prioritise initiatives for sustainable growth.
Section 3: Learning & Development: Essential hard skills for a CPO to become CEO
Learn about what technical and strategic skills a CPO looking to transition to a CEO should focus on developing. Discover how manage boardroom communication, operational management, building company cultures and leadership techniques beyond product development.
Developing a CEO mindset
Transitioning from Chief Product Officer (CPO) to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) requires a shift in perspective and approach. As a CPO, the focus is primarily on product strategy, innovation, and user experience. However, as a CEO, the scope widens to encompass the entire business, requiring a broader, more strategic mindset.
Expanding from Product-focused to company-wide Strategy
As a CPO, decision-making is centred around product development and customer needs. Moving into the CEO role requires expanding this focus to include:
- The overall direction of the business, beyond just the product.
- Company-wide priorities, such as revenue growth, operational efficiency, and market positioning.
- Ensuring all departments -sales, marketing, finance, and operations, work towards a unified business goal.
- Evaluating long-term sustainability and diversification strategies.
This shift requires stepping back from a purely product-driven perspective and considering how all aspects of the company contribute to its success.
Balancing innovation with operational and financial oversight
Innovation remains important as a CEO, but it must be balanced with operational efficiency and financial stability. This means:
- Weighing the risks and rewards of new product investments against business goals.
- Ensuring innovation aligns with market demand and revenue potential.
- Managing budgets, financial forecasts, and cash flow to maintain a healthy bottom line.
- Understanding and optimising business processes to improve efficiency.
Unlike a CPO, who may push for constant innovation, a CEO must ensure that innovation serves the company’s overall strategy and financial sustainability.
Moving from execution to delegation and high-level decision-making
As a CPO, hands-on involvement in product development is common. However, as a CEO, the role requires stepping back from daily execution and focusing on strategic leadership. This involves:
- Trusting and empowering department heads to execute their responsibilities effectively.
- Making high-level decisions that shape the future of the company.
- Prioritising leadership, communication, and company-wide alignment over tactical execution.
- Setting clear goals and expectations while allowing teams to take ownership.
Our speakers
Ana Jakimovska. Ana is forward-thinking leader with over 15 years’ experience driving growth in digital and product innovation, she has led consumer-focused products at start-ups like Culture Trip as well as major organisations including The Guardian, BBC and ITV. With a PhD in AI specialising in predictive modelling, Ana is passionate about diversity in tech and women’s advancement in technology.
Gregor Young. Gregor is a strategic digital product leader with 17+ years’ experience driving growth at the intersection of technology, data and customer-centric experiences. Former CEO of Guild, he specialises in digital transformation, product innovation and scalable growth through AI and data-driven strategies. Skilled in leading high-performing teams, enhancing operational efficiency, and delivering value through collaboration and continuous optimisation.
Lucy Stonehill. Lucy is an executive and entrepreneur with expertise in K12 and higher education, talent recruitment and scaling start-ups. She founded BridgeU in 2014, connecting international schools with higher education institutions globally. After scaling BridgeU, Lucy oversaw its acquisition by Kaplan in 2020. She’s a venture partner at Emerge Education and holds several advisory roles.
Other Roundtable discussions include:
Scaling Product Management teams
Product Management trends 2025
How to build a product-led company
How mentoring helps you build a strong product team
