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# Beyond the buzz: Aligning AI Innovation with Customer Needs


- **Date:** Friday, Jul 11, 2025
- **Time:** 09:00–09:30 (30 min)
- **Room:** Airstream 1
- **Event:** World Congress 2025
- **Tags:** ai, product management

## Description

"Everything is better with Bluetooth." Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

If The Big Bang Theory was a few years older, that quote would have said "blockchain" and, if it was now, it would be about AI.
Tech fads have always and will always exist. They excite us, and they also excite the people who give us money.

But just like Penny's hair ornaments did not get any better with Bluetooth, a lot of products do not and will not get any better with AI. As a product leader and strategist, we must find ways to stay user-centric in our solutions, while still satisfying the investors and stakeholders' demand for "some AI".

In this session I will share how I navigated that, the mistakes I have made, and the failed initiatives we had along the way. 
I trust the audience will rethink some of their projects and be better equipped to create remarkable, AI-powered products.

## Speaker

### [Ettore Zotarelli](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@ettore-zotarelli)

Ettore Zotarelli, SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER at MEWS


## Related talks at this congress

- [Breaking the Hardware Mindset: Overcoming Barriers to System-Level Innovation](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2025/sessions/908-breaking-the) — Réka Leisztner
- [Intelligence Everywhere: The Future of Consumer Tech](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2025/sessions/631-intelligence) — Alejandro Saucedo, Annika Grosse, Leif Lindner
- [Leading efficiency, empathy, and the human experience with AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2025/sessions/803-leading-efficiency) — Alexander Birke, Benjamin Perlzweig, Emmanuel Viale, Ming Wu
- [Reimagining the Developer Experience: The AI Advantage](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2025/sessions/619-reimagining-the) — Anu Bharadwaj, Tobias Schlottke