University of Kwazulu-Natal

Four Habits To Maximise Your Roi On Ai Investment Matthew Certner

Bonisiwe Shabane
-
four habits to maximise your roi on ai investment matthew certner

(Sponsored post) Business transformation is hard. So hard, in fact, that 84% of efforts reportedly fail. Why? Because too many organisations don’t know where to focus, how to scale, or how to identify the path to measurable value. In an era of tightening budgets and resource constraints, finding and executing the right product ideas has never been more critical. In this INDUSTRY 2025 Spotlight session, Matthew Certner, Head of Digital Product Engineering and Design for IBM Consulting, delivered a message on four habits to lead product transformations successfully.

Matthew opened by challenging attendees to reflect on projects that consumed months of effort, only to be met with low adoption or no ROI. It’s a common challenge for product teams: products launched without understanding user needs or with too much confidence in assumptions over evidence. The remedy? Focus, feedback, and flexibility. Matthew shared findings from a recent IBM Institute for Business Value study that surveyed 1,000 product engineering leaders. Despite the widespread excitement around generative AI, one in five teams still doesn’t use it across any stage of the product lifecycle.

Done right, an AI First Approach to Product Development can compress timelines and cut costs. In this episode of the Product Experience Podcast, we speak with Kasia Chmielinski, co-founder of The Data Nutrition Project, who discusses their work on responsible AI, data quality, and the Data Nutrition Project. Kasia highlights the importance of balancing innovation with ethical considerations in product management, the challenges of working within large organizations like the UN, and the need for transparency in data usage. Featured Links: Follow Kasia on LinkedIn | The Data Nutrition Project | 'What we learned at Pendomonium and #mtpcon 2024 Raleigh: Day 2' feature by Louron Pratt Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space.

She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events.

You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK. What does it take to build truly product-driven engineering teams? In this episode, Matt Watson — founder and CEO of Full Scale and author of Product Driven — joins Lily and Randy to challenge the longstanding silos between product and engineering.

Drawing on 25+ years of experience and four tech ventures, Matt makes the case for why developers need more than just code to care about: they need context, ownership, and clarity.From redefining “done” to... Our HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. 💬 “Enterprises face this unique paradox where if you move too slowly, you risk irrelevance.” Matthew Certner 🎙️ New podcast episode is now live!

Tune in now 👉 https://bit.ly/48s3dCr In this week’s episode of The Product Experience,Lily Smith speaks to Matthew Certner, Digital Product Engineering and Design Partner at IBM, about how the best companies are getting AI... Here are 3 key takeaways from the conversation: 💡 Behaviour > technology, culture and ways of working drive real ROI. ⚙️ Four traits define success: Flexibility, incremental delivery, data-led decisions, and collaboration. 🚀 Generative AI isn’t a strategy, it’s an enabler for creating true user and business value. 🎥 🎧 You can now listen or watch the full episode 👉 https://bit.ly/48s3dCr “Having a deep understanding of your customer and your unique value is critical for building your AI roadmap and strategy.” New podcast episode with Vidya Dinamani is now live 👉 https://bit.ly/4nRrHJq In this week's...

3 key takeaways: 🧏♂️ Up to 80% of product managers Product Rebels work with say they’ve never spoken to a customer 🧠 AI readiness is most effective when integrated into the broader product maturity... ☁️🎙️ This week’s reality: Technology can scale almost anything — except human experience. In a world obsessed with efficiency, what does it mean to design for how people actually feel? Join Dave, Esmee , Rob on the #CloudRealities podcast with Kevin Magee, CTO at All human, as they explore why human experience is becoming the next competitive edge in tech-driven organizations. Here’s what you’ll learn: 💡Why experience design starts with empathy, not algorithms. 🧠 How to blend behavioural science, creativity and technology to create experiences that truly matter.

🤖Why the future of AI isn’t about replacing humans — but understanding what makes us human. ❤️ How small acts of humanity in design can drive massive impact at scale. If we want technology to feel more human, we need to start by being more human ourselves. 🎧 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/gp7e8qnp 💬 What’s your take — can digital experiences ever feel truly human? ☁️🎙️ This week’s reality: Technology can scale almost anything — except human experience. In a world obsessed with efficiency, what does it mean to design for how people actually feel?

Join Dave, Esmee , Rob on the #CloudRealities podcast with Kevin Magee, CTO at All human, as they explore why human experience is becoming the next competitive edge in tech-driven organizations. Here’s what you’ll learn: 💡Why experience design starts with empathy, not algorithms. 🧠 How to blend behavioural science, creativity and technology to create experiences that truly matter. 🤖Why the future of AI isn’t about replacing humans — but understanding what makes us human. ❤️ How small acts of humanity in design can drive massive impact at scale. If we want technology to feel more human, we need to start by being more human ourselves.

🎧 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/gTER4s8Y 💬 What’s your take — can digital experiences ever feel truly human? ☁️🎙️ This week’s reality: Technology can scale almost anything — except human experience. In a world obsessed with efficiency, what does it mean to design for how people actually feel? Join Dave, Esmee , Rob on the #CloudRealities podcast with Kevin Magee, CTO at All human, as they explore why human experience is becoming the next competitive edge in tech-driven organizations. Here’s what you’ll learn: 💡Why experience design starts with empathy, not algorithms. 🧠 How to blend behavioural science, creativity and technology to create experiences that truly matter.

🤖Why the future of AI isn’t about replacing humans — but understanding what makes us human. ❤️ How small acts of humanity in design can drive massive impact at scale. If we want technology to feel more human, we need to start by being more human ourselves. 🎧 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/d37sEYFU 💬 What’s your take — can digital experiences ever feel truly human? INDUSTRY Chronicles(Cleveland 🇺🇸 )- Generative AI- Maximizing your ROI A cool 💙 part of the conference was the Spotlight session where we could connect closely to leaders. The talk from Matthew Certner from IBM was one that caught my attention.

His framing was simple but brutal. Most AI transformations don’t fail because of the tech but because teams skips the habits that make change stick. He also spoke of 4 habits for a successful transformation. they should be Flexible, data Led, transitional, and cross functional. Curious how this lands in your org? DM me, I’d love to compare notes.

#INDUSTURY #Cleveland Mind the Product. https://lnkd.in/dAyMYCwW Everyone’s on LinkedIn talking about GenAI and Agentic AI delivering massive ROI. Are you actually seeing it in your organization? A recent IBM IBV study of 1,000 executives revealed a surprising gap: only 27% say GenAI delivered its functional benefits and just 23% say it delivered its financial benefits. I had the privilege of speaking at #INDUSTRY2025 by Mind the Product, where we tackled this exact challenge.

As GenAI lowers barriers to experimentation and raises competitive pressure, the teams that consistently unlock ROI share four behaviors: 🔹 Flexibility 🔹 Incremental & Targeted Delivery 🔹 Data-Led Decision Making 🔹 Cross-Functional Collaboration If... 👉Want to learn how to unlock more value and stay ahead of the competition? Check out my session for practical strategies that drive results: https://lnkd.in/e_WyECHz Ellen Dowd Caroline Roche Debbie Vavangas Molly Vannucci Dixie Adams Nisha Kohli Download the full report: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/gen-ai-digital-product Very insightful read authored by Nisha Kohli This completely aligns with what I've experienced in my work to leverage AI effectively. It's all about process!

This is really fantastic insight Matthew! Ensuring ROI is critical to successful AI investments. SMASHED IT!! VALUE VALUE VALUE! Its' all pointless without value! I could listen to Matthew Certner talk about almost anything.

But this is particularly relevant if you’re looking for a clear, simple discussion on the relationship between products and AI. Everyone’s on LinkedIn talking about GenAI and Agentic AI delivering massive ROI. Are you actually seeing it in your organization? A recent IBM IBV study of 1,000 executives revealed a surprising gap: only 27% say GenAI delivered its functional benefits and just 23% say it delivered its financial benefits. I had the privilege of speaking at #INDUSTRY2025 by Mind the Product, where we tackled this exact challenge. As GenAI lowers barriers to experimentation and raises competitive pressure, the teams that consistently unlock ROI share four behaviors: 🔹 Flexibility 🔹 Incremental & Targeted Delivery 🔹 Data-Led Decision Making 🔹 Cross-Functional Collaboration If...

People Also Search

(Sponsored Post) Business Transformation Is Hard. So Hard, In Fact,

(Sponsored post) Business transformation is hard. So hard, in fact, that 84% of efforts reportedly fail. Why? Because too many organisations don’t know where to focus, how to scale, or how to identify the path to measurable value. In an era of tightening budgets and resource constraints, finding and executing the right product ideas has never been more critical. In this INDUSTRY 2025 Spotlight ses...

Matthew Opened By Challenging Attendees To Reflect On Projects That

Matthew opened by challenging attendees to reflect on projects that consumed months of effort, only to be met with low adoption or no ROI. It’s a common challenge for product teams: products launched without understanding user needs or with too much confidence in assumptions over evidence. The remedy? Focus, feedback, and flexibility. Matthew shared findings from a recent IBM Institute for Busines...

Done Right, An AI First Approach To Product Development Can

Done right, an AI First Approach to Product Development can compress timelines and cut costs. In this episode of the Product Experience Podcast, we speak with Kasia Chmielinski, co-founder of The Data Nutrition Project, who discusses their work on responsible AI, data quality, and the Data Nutrition Project. Kasia highlights the importance of balancing innovation with ethical considerations in pro...

She’s Worked On A Diverse Range Of Products – Leading

She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, ...

You Can Join One Of Communities He Runs For CPOs

You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK. What does it take to build truly product-driven engineering teams? In t...