AI Product Kitchen is Sauce AI's way of connecting our community of next gen Product Leaders, PMs, Designers, and Engineers - who are seeking answers on how AI is changing product.
Tune in to hear us ask the spiciest questions to the best minds in AI and Product.
Hiring More Humans Because of AI: The Counterintuitive Reality as We Build Trust in AI
Ilan Frank, Chief Product Officer at Checkr, discusses with Matt how AI implementation in regulated industries paradoxically increases human hiring for validation, offering insights into building trust and real-world AI products.
6 Aug 2025
Agents as Teammates: Linear’s AI Vision
Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, discusses Linear's innovative approach to product development by integrating AI agents as teammates, transforming workflows and freeing humans to focus on strategy in this interview.
24 Jul 2025
From Meeting Bots to Revenue AI: Building Gong's $7B Platform
Gong Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Eilon Reshef discusses building a revenue AI platform, highlighting strategies for overcoming early market resistance and customer collaboration in AI product development in this interview.
14 May 2025
Vrushali Paunikar from Carta: The AI Revolution Meets Private Capital
This episode, Vrushali Paunikar - Chief Product Officer at Carta, joins us in the AI Product Kitchen. We talk about Carta's transformation from cap table management to becoming the ERP for private capital, and how they're leveraging AI to revolutionize financial systems stuck in the 80s and 90s. With nearly a decade at Carta, Vrushali has led product at the company through its journey from being rejected by almost every Series A investor to now powering over half of all VC-backed companies and managing over $2.5 trillion in equity.
In this episode, we dive into:
AI for Document Intelligence: How Carta evolved from early, unsuccessful AI experiments with legal documents to now extracting critical data and automating financial workflows using advanced AI models.
AI Agents in Finance: Exploring how AI agents can orchestrate complex financial processes and resolve failing health checks automatically, transforming how private capital finance teams operate.
Reimagining UX for AI: The challenges of designing user experiences for AI-powered workflows, from asynchronous processes to potential chatbot interfaces and the future of finance software.
The ERP Vision for Private Capital: How connecting disparate systems through an ERP platform can eliminate the current practice of manually verifying numbers across systems, freeing finance teams from just "making sure the math is doing math correctly."
Incumbent Advantages vs. Startup Opportunities: Why data-rich incumbents like Carta have an edge in AI, while AI-native startups can differentiate through new design paradigms and aggressive integration strategies.
Here's how to connect with us:
Find Vrushali on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrushali-paunikar/) and X (https://x.com/artshali)
Follow Matt on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hindsmatt/) and X (https://x.com/matthinds_)
Learn more about Carta (https://carta.com/)
And make sure to check out Sauce AI (https://sauce.app/) and follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sauceai/)!
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction to Vrushali, CPO at Carta
01:15 - Carta's origin story: Rejected by every Series A investor
03:30 - Business model innovation: Changing the payer from law firms to companies
05:45 - Tackling "market too small”, objections in startups
07:20 - The pivot from liquidity marketplace to infrastructure platform
09:40 - Learning from product-market fit failure in private market liquidity
12:15 - Systems thinking approach to identifying new opportunities
14:30 - The "startup of startups" org structure at Carta
16:10 - From building new products to connecting the platform
17:45 - "Never Enter Data Twice" as a product philosophy
19:20 - Early AI experiments with legal document processing
21:30 - How AI is accelerating innovation at Carta today
23:40 - Executing on AI bets: From thesis to experimentation
25:15 - AI agents for orchestrating financial workflows
27:50 - Augmentation vs replacement debate in AI
29:30 - User experience challenges with AI-powered workflows
32:10 - AI's impact on design paradigms and information delivery
34:20 - Startup advantages in an AI-first world
36:45 - Using data to build opinionated products and decision guides
38:15 - The future of private capital finance: Beyond "making sure numbers tie up"
40:30 - CFOs evolving from back office to strategic operators
22 Apr 2025
Jeff Seibert: The Era of AI Accounting at Digits
Join us in the AI Product Kitchen this week as we talk to Jeff Seibert, CEO and co-founder of Digits. In this episode, we dive into topics like Jeff's time as Head of Consumer Product at Twitter and his mission to revolutionise the accounting industry with Digits, the first end-to-end accounting platform of the AI era.
In this episode, we go deep on:
In-house AI models vs off-the-shelf solutions: the importance of developing in-house AI models tailored to specific business needs, rather than relying solely on off-the-shelf solutions.
Optimising user experience with AI: Creating an intuitive user experience where AI works seamlessly in the background, allowing users to focus on understanding their business rather than managing tedious accounting tasks.
Product moats in the AI era: How AI can create durable competitive advantage
Common mistakes in AI product development: The pitfalls of putting AI at the forefront of the product narrative without addressing the core problem first.
Lessons from Twitter and AI opportunities: Missed opportunities to leverage AI and the need for a broader mindset in recognizing AI's potential in product development.
Here's how to connect with us:
Find Jeff on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jseibert), X (https://twitter.com/jeffseibert) and on his website (https://jeffseibert.com/)
Follow Matt on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hindsmatt/) and X (https://x.com/matthinds_)
Learn more about Digits (https://digits.com/)
And make sure to check out Sauce AI (https://sauce.app/) and follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sauceai/)!
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction to Jeff Seibert and Digits
00:33 - Jeff's Journey and the Launch of Digits
01:42 - The Vision Behind Digits and AI in Accounting
03:11 - The Decision to Build in Stealth Mode
05:42 - The Importance of Product Quality and Timing
06:46 - The Evolution of Accounting Software
08:26 - Building AI Models for Accounting
10:39 - Defining Success: What is "Good Enough"?
12:18 - In-House Models vs. Off-the-Shelf Solutions
13:36 - User Experience and Automation in Digits
15:40 - Augmenting Accountants, Not Replacing Them
17:03 - Common Mistakes in AI Product Development
18:36 - Differentiating True Innovation from Noise
19:36 - Sustaining Competitive Advantage in AI
21:52 - Unique Team Structures and Agile Practices
24:12 - The Role of Product Managers in Digits
25:15 - Go-to-Market Strategy and Launching Products
26:38 - Lessons from Twitter and AI Opportunities
27:52 - Reflections on Apple and Product Design Principles
30:25 - The Importance of Product Obsession
32:32 - Prioritization Strategies for Product Development
34:32 - Future of Accounting and Automation
15 Apr 2025
Rachel Wolan (CPO Webflow): What's Changed Building AI Products in 10 Years
Join us for our very first episode of AI Product Kitchen from Sauce, where we welcome Rachel Wolan - Chief Product Officer at Webflow. With over a decade of experience in the AI space, Rachel shares her journey from launching her first AI product at Talkdesk to leading the development of multiple AI products at Webflow.
In this episode, we discuss the intersection of AI and Product, exploring how AI can supercharge Product teams and enhance user experiences.
Come take a deep dive into:
The evolution of AI in product development: Understanding how AI has transformed from machine learning-based products to generative AI solutions.
The importance of solving customer problems: Rachel emphasizes that regardless of advancements in AI, the core focus must always be on addressing user needs effectively.
Differentiating between leading and following in the AI space: Insights on when to innovate and when to enhance existing products with AI capabilities.
Building a strong AI team: Strategies for upskilling existing teams and integrating AI fluency across product management, design, and engineering.
The future of Product in an AI world: Predictions on how AI will reshape the product lifecycle, including the roles of QA, prompt engineering, and user experience design.
Here's how to connect with us:
Find Rachel on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelwolan) and X (https://x.com/rachelwolan)
Follow Matt on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hindsmatt/) and X
And make sure to check out Sauce AI (https://x.com/matthinds_) and follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sauceai/)!
Episode timestamps
00:00 - Introduction to Rachel Wolan
00:37 - Rachel's AI Journey: A Decade of Experience
01:18 - The Evolution of AI Product Development
03:31 - Leading vs. Following in the AI Space
05:25 - Webflow's Initial Product Launch Strategy
06:51 - Transitioning to Multi-Product Offerings
08:37 - Building the First AI Team at Webflow
10:34 - Upskilling Teams for AI Fluency
12:11 - Investing in AI: Strategic Considerations
14:57 - Trends Reshaping Product Development
17:22 - Adapting Product Organization Structures
18:24 - Measuring Product Signal and Success
20:06 - Evaluating ROI on AI Investments
21:54 - Inspirations and Influencers in AI
23:10 - The Role of Human Augmentation in AI
25:25 - Designing Unique AI Experiences
27:03 - Go-to-Market Strategy for SMBs and Enterprises
30:48 - Prioritizing Features for Diverse User Personas
32:18 - The Concept of PM as GM
39:49 - Hiring PMs from Adjacent Functions
41:49 - Surprises in Building AI Products
42:42 - User Experience Challenges in AI
43:51 - Concerns and Excitement about AI's Future
44:56 - Future Predictions for Webflow Users
46:11 - Closing Remarks and Reflections
3 Apr 2025
How Linktree is Powering 50M+ Next Gen Creators with Jiaona Zhang, CPO of Linktree
Jiaona Zhang (JZ) is the Chief Product Officer at Linktree, who pioneered the 'link-in-bio' category and is one of the world's fastest growing product companies. JZ was previously the Senior VP Product at Webflow, VP Product at WeWork and Head of Product at Airbnb. JZ is also a Lecturer at Stanford University and a Program Creator at Reforge.
Who has been a guest on AI Product Kitchen
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Ilan Frank
Nan Yu
Eilon Reshef
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