Kevin Harbauer
Transformation & Growth Executive
I have spent more than 20 years leading product, engineering, and security teams in environments where delivering results was not optional. CTO, CISO, and board advisor across PE-backed software, healthcare, and legal services. I write here about the work that is actually hard — technology leadership, AI adoption, security, and building organizations that execute.
Recent Articles
The Decisions Moved Upstream
AI didn't expand the CTO's job. It changed when the business needs the CTO's judgment, and the organization hasn't caught up.
How AI Is Changing Product Management
Most takes on AI and product management are about faster output. The bigger shift is cheaper understanding, and it changes the job.
The Agent Canvas
The pre-build conversation matters more for agents. Eight agent-specific canvas boxes, a worked example, and where teams fill them in wrong.
The Product Canvas in the Age of AI
Building got cheap. The thinking that made building worth it didn't get less important. AI agents make the canvas conversation matter more, not less.
Too Complicated to Simplify
When a team says a system is too complicated to change, it usually means the people who understood it are gone, not that it's hard. That's now cheap to check.
Generation Gets the Demo
The most valuable use of AI isn't generating new code. It's understanding the legacy systems your business already runs on. Why comprehension beats generation.