Pooja Vithlani, Management Consultant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Pooja Vithlani

Verified Expert  in Management Consulting

Product Advisor, Fractional CPO, and Management Consulting Expert

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Toptal member since June 19, 2024

Bio

Pooja, a product leader with 20+ years of experience, has a proven track record at industry giants like Microsoft, Expedia, and Careem (Uber). She's renowned for crafting user-centric products, with a history of driving double-digit growth through sticky solutions. Pooja tackles unique challenges across sectors, guiding startups, scale-ups, and enterprises from vision to market dominance. Her expertise lies in user needs, product strategy, high-performing teams, and sustainable product growth.

Case Studies

Expertise

  • Chief Product Officer (CPO)
  • Personalization
  • Product Advisory
  • Product Growth
  • Product Leadership
  • Product Management
  • Product Strategy
  • Product Vision

Work Experience

Chief Product Advisor | Fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO)

2023 - PRESENT
Self-employed
  • Advised the CEO of a large, multinational logistics firm, shaping the value proposition, market entry strategy, and organizational framework, including talent acquisition, for a disruptive in-house supply chain management (SCM) system.
  • Developed the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the app and web experience, structured the organization, and built and coached the product team for an AI-powered fashion startup's CEO.
  • Assessed product team skills and methodologies of a large, established, semi-government margin trading platform in the UAE at the client's request, developed an upskilling plan, and implemented it.
  • Diagnosed underlying product issues for an established health and well-being startup that was struggling with user adoption and retention and led a user journey and North Star vision workshop to define clear resolutions.
  • Provided ongoing product advisory to numerous CEOs of startups, scale-ups, and senior-level executives of larger enterprises globally.
Focus areas: Product Leadership, Product Growth, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Machine Learning, App Product Management, Product-market Fit, Product Coach, Product Research, Product Strategy, Product Vision, Product Roadmaps, Product Advisory, New Products, Personalization, Communication, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Client Presentations, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Development, Global Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Restructuring, Team Effectiveness, Head of Product, Product Launch, Agile Product Management, Product Consultant, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Director of Product, Digital Product Development, Product-led Growth (PLG), Global Product Management, Product Journeys, User Journeys, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Product Management, Product Marketing, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Product Planning, SaaS Product Management, Product Strategy Consultant, Product Discovery, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Startups, Strategy, Business Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Coaching, Executive Coaching, Training

Vice President of Product Management

2021 - 2023
Kitopi
  • Oversaw cross-functional teams of product managers, designers, data scientists, project managers, and product operations specialists to pioneer and scale smart technology for one of the region's top unicorns in the food-tech space.
  • Hired and trained multidisciplinary teams on core and advanced product management principles while introducing frameworks to the larger organization to drive alignment. Led workshops to develop sound product vision.
  • Established methodologies and processes, defined organizational structures, and hired talented technical resources to close gaps and position the company for high-growth scale-up and funding.
Focus areas: App Product Management, Product Coach, Product Growth, Product Leadership, Product-market Fit, Product Research, Product Roadmaps, Product Strategy, Product Vision, New Products, Product Advisory, Communication, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Development, Global Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Restructuring, Team Effectiveness, Head of Product, Product Launch, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Director of Product, Digital Product Development, Product-led Growth (PLG), Global Product Management, Product Journeys, User Journeys, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Product Management, Web Product Management, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Product Planning, Product Discovery, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Startups, Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

Senior Director of Product Management

2020 - 2021
Careem Networks FZ (owned by Uber)
  • Headed consumer product and platform organizations to evolve the region's 1st super-app, solving regional mobility problems with locally relevant solutions across all customer touch points.
  • Oversaw product management teams across the entire consumer product portfolio, including mobility, food, delivery, customer support, and loyalty, impacting 33 million customers across the region.
  • Trained the CEO, MDs, and product managers in product-led growth principles to enhance their understanding and skills.
Focus areas: Product Leadership, App Product Management, Product Growth, Product Coach, Product Strategy, Product Vision, Product Roadmaps, Product-market Fit, Product Research, New Products, Personalization, Product Advisory, Communication, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Development, Global Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Restructuring, Team Effectiveness, Head of Product, Product Launch, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Director of Product, Digital Product Development, Product-led Growth (PLG), Global Product Management, Product Journeys, User Journeys, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Product Management, Web Product Management, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Product Planning, Product Discovery, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Startups, Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

Senior Director of Product Management

2013 - 2020
Expedia
  • Managed a high-performing product management team to develop innovative platform-level solutions that enhance the traveler experience at every user journey stage, enabling personalization, content, and automation.
  • Increased return visits and initiated habit loops across devices while innovating with A/B tests to identify patterns that drove repeat visits during the shopping window, resulting in higher loyalty, conversion, and customer lifetime value.
  • Developed and drove the vision for machine learning, habit-inducing, omnichannel customer engagement solutions with applied data science methodologies.
  • Headed ideation for a machine-driven, scalable next-generation platform and infrastructure to customize communications across channels and optimize personalization.
Focus areas: Product Leadership, App Product Management, Product Research, Product Growth, Product-market Fit, Product Coach, Product Roadmaps, Product Strategy, Product Vision, New Products, Communication, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Development, Global Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Restructuring, Team Effectiveness, Head of Product, Product Launch, Agile Product Management, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Director of Product, Digital Product Development, Product-led Growth (PLG), Global Product Management, Product Journeys, User Journeys, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Product Management, Web Product Management, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Product Planning, SaaS Product Management, Product Discovery, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

Senior Product Manager

2003 - 2012
Microsoft
  • Developed and spearheaded the global competitive strategy for Windows Live Messenger, serving a user base of 320 million globally before the Skype acquisition.
  • Drove multiregional customer research, analyzed insights to identify key opportunities, and presented findings to executive-level stakeholders, influencing a change in direction from their original perspective.
  • Drove the buy-in to introduce key target segments and compelling new product positioning, resulting in the development of a revised competitive strategy and global execution.
Focus areas: Product Growth, Communication, Product Management, New Products, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Product Launch, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Digital Product Development, Global Product Management, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Web Product Management, Product Marketing, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Certifications

NOVEMBER 2023 - PRESENT

No Code AI and Machine Learning: Building Data Science Solutions

MIT Professional Education

Skills

Other

Product Roadmaps, Product Research, App Product Management, Product Vision, Product Leadership, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Product Coach, Product Strategy, Product-market Fit, Product Growth, Machine Learning, Personalization, Communication, Product Management, Product Advisory, New Products, Presentations, Executive Presentations, Team Leadership, Team Management, Team Development, Global Team Management, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Restructuring, Team Effectiveness, Head of Product, Product Launch, Agile Product Management, Product Consultant, Product Conceptualization, Customer-centered Product Development, Product Discovery, Director of Product, Digital Product Development, Product-led Growth (PLG), Global Product Management, Product Journeys, User Journeys, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Product Management, Web Product Management, New Product Rollout, New Product Development, Product Planning, SaaS Product Management, Product Strategy Consultant, Go-to-market Plans, Go-to-market Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Microsoft, Client Presentations, Product Marketing, Startups, Strategy, Business Strategy, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Coaching, Executive Coaching, Training

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