Outcome-driven product and technology leadership
I link product discovery with engineering execution, from opportunity discovery to value realization.
Saeed Taheri
AI-Native Software Product and Development Leader
Outcome-driven product and technology leadership, from opportunity discovery to value realization.
Around 20 years of creating and delivering value with software, in enterprise, scale-up and start-up environments.
Key figures
~20years
of creating and delivering value with software
90%+
PI delivery predictability, with less than 10% scope adjustment
85%eNPS
for 3 consecutive years, 20% above the industry average
140+people
in the R&D organization where I scaled agile practices
1.4Mcontributors
served by the crowdsourcing platform whose development I managed
What I offer
Closing the gap between what to build and how to build it.
Scaled agile leadership and transformation
I help teams and teams-of-teams reach true agility, for an accelerated flow of high-quality value.
AI-native product and development management
I shift intelligence left, from development to validation and discovery, with agentic AI in the team.
Key strengths
- Bridging the gap between IT and Business
- IT Business System analysis, software architecture and design
- Requirements elicitation and product management
- Agile roadmapping and planning
- Leading software development teams
- Bringing Generative AI into product and development management
X-shaped professional
An I-shaped professional goes deep in one discipline; a T-shaped professional adds breadth around that depth. An X-shaped professional goes deep in two distinct disciplines and also leads: one stroke of the X is competence, the other is leadership, and they meet where strategy, business, product, technology and leadership intersect.
- Competence axis:Business & product management
- Competence axis:Engineering & technical delivery
- Leadership axis:Strategic thinking
- Leadership axis:People leadership
Why I am X-shaped
Competence axis
Deep in both engineering and business
I navigate technical complexity with practitioner credibility: software architecture, design and development, not a manager who once coded. On the business side I bring structured, practitioner-level discipline: business process management, business modelling, enterprise architecture and the BABOK framework.
Leadership axis
Strategic thinking and people leadership
My strategic side was shaped by the Executive MBA at Aalto University, strategic management practice and frameworks such as the Balanced Scorecard and Hoshin Kanri. My people side is a coaching-first leadership style that sustained 85% employee engagement over three consecutive years.
That is why I can present a lean business case to portfolio steering in the morning, review a pull request in the afternoon, and be credible in both rooms.
INTJ-T: the Architect
Architects are imaginative, strategic thinkers with a plan for everything. They question conventional wisdom, invest deliberately in mastery, and judge an idea by whether it actually works.
The Turbulent variant adds self-scrutiny and a drive to improve. Turbulent Architects tend to spot flaws in a system early, revise goals and methods when a change clearly leads to better results, and connect more easily with others, which helps them win support for their ideas.
Type descriptions based on the 16Personalities model.
- I:
- Introverted
- N:
- Intuitive
- T:
- Thinking
- J:
- Judging
- T:
- Turbulent
Introvert 53%Extravert 47%
Close to the middle: I am at home in deep, focused analysis and in engaging and mobilizing people.
Traits
- Introspective
- Strategic and rational
- Arranging and coordinator
- Entailing and mobilizing
- Mastermind and field marshal
How it shows in my work
- I build mental models before acting, then execute with precision.
- I invest deliberately in long-range mastery rather than reactive learning.
- I hold myself and my teams to high standards, which is what produces 90%+ predictable delivery while keeping teams motivated.
Catalyst
An intellect beyond boundaries.
Catalysts are systems-minded thought leaders with a sharp, philosophical intellect. They see clearly what isn't working, but their real passion is discovering what does, and developing bold ideas that challenge assumptions. They introduce new systems and frameworks, and see how every part fits into the larger whole.
“An idealist without illusions”
Creative type from Adobe Creative Types.
- Zone of genius
- Thought leadership
- Deepest aspiration
- Mastery
- Growth opportunity
- Transforming frustration into fuel
Professional areas of expertise
Each step builds on the ones before it.
- Since 2001Software Development, Team & Technical Leadership
- Since 2004IT Business System Analysis
- Since 2013Product Ownership
- Since 2017Software Product Management · Scrum Mastering
- Since 2020Software Development Management
- Since 2023Scaled Agile Leadership
- Since 2026Agentic Software Product & Development Management
Selected impact
2018 · Software Product Manager
Saved a €3M contract by designing a product and leading the development team within 1 intensive week.
2022 · Software Development Manager
A crowdsourcing platform serving 1.4M contributors, provisioned to scale to over 10M users.
2026 · Scaled Agile Coach
Scaled agile practices and established 2 large agile teams of 45+ cross-functional members each.
What I value
Authenticity
I prefer real execution over ticking boxes.
Business–technology alignment
I have never worked as purely technical or purely business; I bridge both.
Sustainable quality
I aim for the shortest sustainable lead time, not just speed.
Human-centred leadership
I coach rather than manage, with meaningful 1:1s and measured engagement.
Let's talk
Whether you are hiring for a leadership role or looking for help as a consultant, pick the conversation that fits.