You Don't Have to Work in Product to Help Build One
3 Minute Read · 5 Minute Listen
A year ago, my colleague Eva Hamburger and I were deep in fiscal planning for director development. We kept circling the same two barriers: One-on-one communications coaching cost an eye-watering $250-$800 per session, and coaching wasn’t always available when you needed it, like at 9 p.m. the night before that last-minute Executive Update.
In this AI era, we knew there had to be a better way, so we began exploring existing tools. After realizing that none quite hit the mark, we asked: Why don’t we build it ourselves?
I'm not an engineer. I'm not a designer. My job title has the word "Talent" in it, not "Product." Yet, I’ve spent the last year helping build and launch the AI Presentation Coach, now live inside Vidcast.
The pitch
We prepared for an extensive pitch to the Vidcast team — business case polished, objections anticipated. Three minutes into our meeting, Rami Salman, the Vidcast Director and GM, stopped us. "You don't have to sell us. We're already sold. Let's talk about how we make it happen."
That meeting started a deeply collaborative journey. The team was generous enough to include me at every stage, from early prototyping and beta testing to briefing, marketing, and drafting the social campaign. Having the early backing of our Chief People Officer, Kelly Jones, was the difference between a cool concept and a great product.
The AI Presentation Coach now lives inside Vidcast. Select or record a video and get instant, personalized feedback on everything from pacing and filler words to eye contact and framing. It'll even predict the questions your audience is likely to ask, suggest how to answer them, and help you tailor your message to whoever is in the room.
Learning from an AI-first team
I was amazed at how much the team used AI to build this, for research and concepting to prototyping. I used AI too, pressure-testing messaging with MyAgent to ensure I never missed a question or testimonial. I trained MyAgent to create a weekly update and adoption dashboard for my stakeholders.
Working with Rami and Tomas Tarasovic (the Product Manager who made it happen) gave me a front-row seat to how a real product team operates. My "clients" are Cisco employees, so this genuine exposure to how the business builds and ships things made me better at my own job.
Same muscle, different product
Watching the team, I realized there are parallels between their work and Talent Management. There's a Rami-shaped part of my job: Thinking about the future of work and pitching those ideas. And there's a Tomas-shaped part: Researching, validating, and refining ideas. It’s the same muscle, just a different product.
The sophistication, humble enthusiasm, and focus on impact that Laura brought to Vidcast sold me within the first minute — a rarity in these conversations. Laura’s patience and dedication were vital in seeing this through to our launch and GTM.— Rami Salman, Vidcast Director and GM
If you're not in a product team, and you've never written a line of code, you can still help build the future. You just need curiosity, the courage to try something new, and a willingness to show up.
Employee resources
Related links
Related Content
