Akshit Kumar
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Toptal member since December 2, 2021
Akshit is an AI product manager with 11 years across marketplaces, fintech, mobility, and B2B SaaS. At Syngenta (global agribusiness), he led Loryn, an LLM-powered conversational AI agent connected to ServiceNow and Microsoft Graph for an IT desk handling 50,000+ tickets a month. He also builds GPT-powered MVPs, hands-on with AI coding tools. Earlier, he co-founded and sold RentEzee (P2P rental marketplace). Before that, he grew Fitpass (fitness app) from 12x to 150,000 weekly active users.
Project Highlights
Education Highlights
Expertise
- AI Agents
- AI Product Management
- Conversational AI
- Data Analysis
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Product Management
- Product Requirements Documentation (PRD)
- Project Management
Work Experience
Product Owner
Syngenta - Syngenta AG
- Led product strategy and delivery for Loryn, an LLM-powered conversational AI agent for IT service management (ITSM) at Syngenta's global IT service desk (50,000+ tickets a month).
- Used predictive intelligence to read chat context and route tickets to the right resolver team in 12 seconds, replacing a manual L1 triage step.
- Worked with platform teams to connect Loryn to ServiceNow APIs and Microsoft Graph. Employees could get knowledge base answers, submit catalog requests, and receive software licenses and SharePoint access without leaving the chat.
- Launched an email channel for Loryn that handled 4,000+ support emails a month, so employees could raise IT requests without opening the portal.
- Designed conversation flows and escalation rules so Loryn handed complex cases to human agents.
- Owned the roadmap and turned stakeholder requirements into development plans for engineering and design.
Product Manager
Right Click Save Ltd
- Joined Right Click Save (digital art publication) as its first dedicated product manager, working directly with the founders on vision, roadmap, and execution across editorial, community, and platform.
- Led 0-to-1 discovery for a new community platform, turning the founders' vision into problem statements, user journeys, PRDs, and a phased MVP scope.
- Designed and shipped contribution flows, reputation signals, and access controls for creators, and defined the moderation model.
- Set up the product operating rhythm for a fully remote global team: weekly planning, async documentation, and decision logs.
- Mapped acquisition loops, onboarding flows, and engagement levers tied to editorial distribution to shape early go-to-market.
Community & Product Growth Specialist
Jenna SA - Financial Services Venture (Global)
- Joined Jenna (stock idea-sharing community for retail investors) at MVP stage to activate the first users and test which community mechanics could scale.
- Designed and tested incentives, including reputation signals, contribution rewards, and recognition, to get users sharing better stock ideas and rating each other's.
- Worked with the founder, a former private banker, to turn financial concepts into product mechanics retail users understand.
- Delivered a prioritized product and growth roadmap, then built a working low-code prototype of the next engagement features in Replit.
Founding Product Manager
Reunion
- Led product strategy and user research for Reunion, a Gen Z journaling app that pairs AI self-reflection prompts with social accountability.
- Built the GPT-powered journaling companion, writing the prompts behind personalized reflections, tone analysis, and weekly AI recaps.
- Prioritized the MVP feature set: an AI prompt generator, the GPT journaling assistant, and mood-based journaling flows.
- Designed a freemium model built around AI insights and habit tracking.
- Ran competitive research to set positioning, pricing, and go-to-market for the Gen Z digital wellness market.
Founding Product Manager
Quibbi
- Led product strategy and roadmap for Quibbi, an AI-powered mobile app that helps people with disabilities find accessible housing support.
- Wrote the PRDs, covering GPT-4 matching between users and support services, user journeys, and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility requirements.
- Planned the MVP build on FlutterFlow, Firebase, and the GPT-4 API, then helped build it with AI coding tools.
- Supported early fundraising with market sizing, competitive analysis, NSF seed fund applications, and the VC pitch deck.
Founding Product Manager
WatchWerkz
- Led the full-stack build and launch of WatchWerkz, a luxury eCommerce platform, covering front end, back end, hosting, and a custom CMS for non-technical staff.
- Moved the platform from legacy hosting to Railway and Coolify, targeting 99.9% uptime with less maintenance.
- Integrated Stripe payments, user roles, and dynamic product metadata, and shipped the full store on an accelerated timeline.
Founding Product Manager
FeFoSys
- Led product strategy for FeFoSys, a point-of-sale and inventory SaaS for small retailers in Africa, built on React and Supabase. Helped build the MVP with AI coding tools.
- Designed the system for 1,000+ stores at 250+ receipts a day each, with FEFO (first-expired, first-out) stock rotation, Bluetooth receipt printing, and multi-tenant role-based access.
- Built subscription billing on Paystack and designed a GPT-based helpdesk assistant for customer support.
- Wrote the PRDs, user flows, and wireframes, and set up operating processes for expansion into other emerging markets.
Product Consultant & Technical BA
Technogise
- Led product for a school management platform that Technogise (software consultancy) built for one of India's largest school groups. It spans 20+ schools and has 50,000+ daily active users.
- Shipped the parent-teacher mobile app for Android and iOS in React Native.
- Shipped the back-office SaaS for admissions, fees, and staff management.
Product Owner
Yara
- Owned the FarmCare and FarmGo mobile apps for Yara (global crop nutrition company) across India, Southeast Asia, and Africa, leading crop launches in new regions.
- Wrote user stories and acceptance criteria and prioritized the backlog through program increment (PI) planning.
- Tracked delivery with Scrum leads and set clear goals for a team of 6–10.
Product Manager
Invisibly
- Launched mobile apps for Invisibly (pay-per-article news platform) that let users read outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal by paying only for what they read. Content came in through APIs and was personalized for each user.
- Built the Android and iOS roadmap with senior executives and relaunched the redesigned app within a quarter.
- Ran delivery with design and engineering across 12 sprints, using Jira boards to keep multiple stakeholders on one workflow.
Product Manager
Ather Energy
- Revamped ride statistics in the Ather Energy (electric scooter maker) app over four sprints, lifting app engagement 26% and quarterly retention 10%.
- Used cohort analysis and user interviews to pick the target segment, then applied gamification (the Octalysis framework) and viral loops.
- Grew users 40% month over month with growth features and built dashboards to track feature usage.
- Turned leadership's quarterly roadmaps into projects for engineering.
Product Manager & Technical BA
Zeta Account
- Led product for a virtual prepaid card that Zeta (banking technology company) built for India's largest private-sector bank, aimed at millennials and Gen Z.
- Shipped e-KYC, RBI compliance, NFC payments, and a mobile passbook, integrating the card APIs into the Android and iOS apps.
- Worked with back-end engineers on an architecture designed for up to 1 million transactions per second, sized for the bank's 50M+ customer base.
- Built Android and iOS prototypes with the bank's product team and Zeta's design team.
Product Lead
Meru Cabs
- Led product, data, and design to ship Office Commute, a B2B2C employee commute product for Meru (cab aggregator): Android and iOS rider apps plus a web portal for corporate admins. Shipped in one quarter over six sprints, with an MVP CSAT of 92.
- Gathered requirements from corporate clients with the sales team and distilled them into an MVP PRD and a one-year roadmap.
- Led go-to-market with marketing, using launch discounts and events at business parks to build a critical mass of riders.
- Built pitch decks and revenue models with the C-suite that supported Meru's acquisition by Mahindra & Mahindra.
Product Manager
Ithaka
- Shipped two revenue features in the Ithaka (travel booking app) mobile apps that doubled MRR in one quarter.
- Rebuilt the user acquisition funnels with engineering, cutting active-user churn 64%.
- Ran growth campaigns with marketing that grew bookings 12% week over week.
- Built the company's revenue model with the leadership team.
Co-founder and CEO
RentEzee
- Co-founded RentEzee, a P2P marketplace for renting gear like cameras, drones, and travel equipment. Raised an angel round, was selected for Y Combinator's Startup School, and sold the company.
- Built the Android and iOS apps from zero to 17,000 rentable items across eight categories.
- Ran operations with the COO to fulfill 40+ orders and deliveries a day, reaching $100,000+ in monthly GMV.
Product Manager
Fitpass
- Grew Fitpass (fitness membership app) 12x to 150,000 weekly active users in two years, while studio partnerships grew from 10 to 2,500+.
- Launched the Android and iOS apps for fitness and nutrition services with engineering.
- Built the long-term product roadmap with the CEO from user and competitor research.
- Kept CSAT above 80 by running user feedback loops with the sales team.
Project History
Enterprise Conversational AI Agent for IT Support
- 12 Seconds — Ticket Routing Time Using ML (Predictive Intelligence)
- 4,000+ — Support Emails Handled Monthly by the Loryn Email Agent
- 50,000+ — Monthly Tickets at the Global IT Service Desk
A global enterprise’s IT service desk received 50,000+ tickets a month through the ServiceNow portal, email, and other channels. Employees struggled to find the right catalog item for routine software and license requests. Simple issues turned into long email threads. L1 agents had to contact users just to work out which team a ticket belonged to.
I defined the roadmap for an LLM agent that handles routine IT requests end to end. I connected it to ServiceNow’s knowledge base and catalog via APIs, so employees could get answers or file requests in chat. Loryn took the business justification from the chat instead of a form. I used Microsoft Graph to automate Microsoft 365 license and SharePoint access provisioning. I launched an email agent for requests sent with “create:” in the subject line. ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence read each conversation and routed the ticket to the right L2 team. Complex cases went to human agents.
Led Loryn, an LLM-powered conversational AI agent that lets employees of a global enterprise resolve IT issues and file requests in chat or email. Its ML routing sends each ticket to the right team in 12 seconds.
RentEzee: Building and Selling a P2P Rental Marketplace
- $100,000+ — Monthly GMV
- 17,000+ — Rentable Items Across 8 Categories
- 40+ — Orders and Deliveries Fulfilled per Day
Gear like cameras, drones, and travel equipment is expensive to buy and often used only a few times a year. RentEzee set out to let owners rent it to people who needed it short term. The marketplace needed enough listings to be useful and reliable pickup and delivery for every order.
As co-founder and CEO, I owned product and company strategy. I led the Android and iOS apps from zero to 17,000 rentable items across eight categories, including cameras, drones, travel gear, and sports equipment. With my co-founder (COO), I set up operations for 40+ orders and physical deliveries a day. We raised an angel round, were selected for Y Combinator’s Startup School, and grew the team to 11–20 people. We sold the company in an acquisition.
Co-founded RentEzee, a P2P marketplace for renting gear like cameras, drones, and travel equipment. Grew it to 17,000 listings and $100,000+ in monthly GMV, then sold the company.
Prepaid Card Product for India's Largest Private Sector Bank
Led the product development to launch a new prepaid card product for a bank that traditionally dealt with CASA banking products. The new product included mobile apps and virtual payment cards.
Our client, India’s largest private sector bank, wanted to launch a product in a new market segment—Millennials and Gen Z. The product was a virtual prepaid general purpose reloadable (GPR) card for users to operate and control from a mobile app.
I led the product team and worked with engineering and design leads to release the card and mobile apps as per the client’s requirements. One of our challenges was to build an engineering architecture that could support the scale of transactions that the client expected.
We built an architecture that could support one million secure transactions per second, which was 100x more than the client wanted and 10x the peak expected. This was to protect the product from unexpected surges at any time in the next year’s roadmap.
Key product modules:
• Online e-KYC
• Virtual prepaid card
• Online, offline, and NFC secure transactions
• Mobile passbook
• RBI compliance for all transactions (RBI is India’s central bank and regulatory body)
Office Commute: B2B2C Commute Product for Meru
Led the product development and launch of the Office Commute feature of the Meru app. This included releasing a major feature on the user apps (Android and iOS) and a web portal for the corporate client admin.
Meru is the pioneer of cab aggregation businesses in India. It has focused primarily on the B2B mobility segment. In 2020, once COVID-19 was on the decline, our clients wanted to release a product where riders could book a Meru cab on the app itself for their daily office commute instead of this being a daily task for the employer’s admin.
My team scoped out the requirements from our top corporate clients and planned an MVP release with the most necessary features:
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Android and iOS apps for the riders to reserve cabs for their office commute (home to work and back) in one go for up to 30 days in advance.
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A web-based portal for the client’s admin to track and manage those rides along with all the invoicing and bill payment facilities.
We released the MVP in one quarter via six sprints. I led the GTM strategy for the product launch in collaboration with the marketing team. The launch included a combination of discount offers and collaboration events at business parks to gain a critical mass of users.
Revamped Ride Statistics for an Electric Two-wheeler Startup
Owned the feature where users can see their ride statistics on their mobile app after completing a ride on an electric scooter. We increased the app engagement by 26% and the quarterly user retention by 10%
I worked for the leading startup in the electric two-wheeler mobility space. Users who bought a subscription could also access connected features on the mobile app. The problem statement was to increase user engagement on the mobile app and reduce churn for subscribed users.
Data analysis showed that Ride Statistics was the most engaging feature on the mobile app. My team decided to capitalize on that and make it even more engaging for the users.
We segmented users into cohorts and decided which segment to target, conducted extensive user interviews to prioritize problems, used the Octalysis Framework (gamification) to implement new features in the app, and created viral loops.
In one quarter after the release, user engagement increased by 26%, and user retention increased by 10%.
Education
Master's Degree in Quantum Physics
University of Sussex - Sussex, England, UK
Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee - Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
Skills
Tools
Slack, Zoom, Jira, Figma, Confluence, Asana, Canva, Sketch, BigQuery, Google Workspace, Google Analytics, Stripe Checkout, MATLAB
Paradigms
Agile Workflow, Agile Product Management, Gamification, Requirements Analysis, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Agile Project Management, B2C, Design Thinking, Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C), Digital Marketing Best Practices, Agile Software Development, Mobile App Design, Key Performance Metrics, Scalable Application, Microservices, Low Code, Data Product Management, Marketplace Platforms, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Change Management, Model View Presenter (MVP), B2B2C
Platforms
WooCommerce, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Shopify, Blockchain, Mixpanel
Industry Expertise
Marketplaces, Digital Banking, Agriculture, Product Ideation, Health & Wellness
Other
Gmail, Notion, Research, Project Management, Data Analysis, Experimental Research, Product Management, Wireframe to Product, Product Growth, Growth Strategy, Business Strategy, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Social Media Content, Company Strategy, Product Leadership, Leadership, App UI, Pitch Decks, Pitch Presentations, Seed Fundraising, User Interviews, User Interface (UI), Hiring, App Growth, Stakeholder Management, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Wireframing, Business Requirements Documentation (BRD), Business Requirements, Client Services, Client Management, Presentation Design, Product Launch, Product Marketing, MVP Design, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), APIs, Customer Segmentation, User Personas, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, SaaS Product Management, Product Development, Agile Sprints, Agile Product Delivery, Mobile Applications, Mobile App Development, Prototyping, User Flows, Growth, User Engagement, Engagement Strategy, Product Roadmaps, API Integration, Startups, Conceptualization, Digital Product Management, Fintech, Roadmaps, UX Roadmaps, Strategy, Analytics, eCommerce, Content Management, Design Requirements, Functional Requirements, User Experience (UX), User Workflows, UX Design, B2B, Feature Prioritization, Backlog Grooming, Mockups, User Stories, A/B Testing, Product Design, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Consumer Applications, Feature Roadmaps, Product Ownership, Backlog Management, Web & Mobile Applications, Product Strategy, Requirements & Specifications, Product Discovery, Web Product Management, App Product Management, Mobile, Mobile Apps, Web Applications, Website Optimization, Subscriptions, Customer Interviews, Customer Journey, Product Owner, Quality Assurance (QA), Project Planning, Requirements, SaaS, Ideation, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Product Planning, UI Design, Product Vision, Feature Planning, Lean Product Manager, New Product Development, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Planning, Growth Marketing Product Manager, Team Management, Platforms, Sprint Planning, Technical Product Management, Dashboards, Travel Product Manager, Product Analytics, Algorithms, App UX, Customer Acquisition, Documentation, Distributed Team Management, Web App UX, Journey Mapping, Business Models, Product Positioning, Minimum Marketable Product (MMP), Value Proposition, Checkout, Payment Gateways, User Feedback, Annotated Wireframes, Customer Research, UX Wireframes, Business Analysis, Lean Product Management, Business to Business (B2B), Two-sided Communities, Multi-sided Marketplaces, Loyalty Programs, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Creative Thinking, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning & Execution, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Data Analytics, Product Delivery, Chief Product Officer (CPO), Agile Coaching, Business to Consumer (B2C), Product Consultant, Startup Consulting, Apps, Market Research, QA Leadership, Reporting, Culture Management, Community, Competition Research, Scope, Discovery, Benchmarking, Fitness, Web UX, Web UI, User Onboarding, Digital Product Design, Integration, Booking Apps, Front-end Development, Business Development, Scope of Work (SOW), Market Research Analyst, Websites, Software Development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Competitive Analysis, Development Strategy, Launch Strategy, Strategy Planning, Market Research & Analysis, New Product Rollout, Growth Model, Software Architecture, User Behavior, Data Management, Business Intelligence (BI) Platforms, Third-party Management, Partnerships, Workflow Tools, WordPress, Lead Generation, Web Design, Recommendation Systems, Digital Payments, Cost Estimation, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Web Content, Tourism, Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Product Research, App Development, SaaS Design, Vendor Selection, Project Scoping, Databases, SQL, Stakeholder Engagement, Technical Requirements, Enterprise Analytics, Interim CPO, Mobile Development, Travel, Technical Project Management, General Management, Scalability, Workflow, Environmental Engineering, Miro, Pricing Strategy, Rewards Programs, Web Platforms, User Adoption, Inventory Management, Inventory Management Systems, Low-code Development, No-code Development, Acceptance Criteria, Activation, Development, UX Strategy, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Agile Program Management, Community Management, Content Marketing Strategy, CRM APIs, Data Aggregation, Large Language Models (LLMs), Workflow Automation & System Integration, Social Networks, Website Design, Remote Work, AI Product Management, AI Agents, AI Chatbots, Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Design, Estimation & Planning, Technical Business Analysis, CSS, Digital Project Management, HTML, Analytical Dashboards, Dashboard Design, Figma Prototyping, Marketing Strategy, Mobile User Acquisition, Paywall Management, Performance Analysis, Test Planning, CI/CD Pipelines, Data Science, Solutioning, Product Frameworks, AI Automation, Chatbot Conversation Design, Customer Experience, Customer Service Support, Communication, Client Retention, Customer Engagement, Customer Retention, Gaming, Digital Commerce, SDKs, Android, iOS, Customer Support, Revenue Strategy, Revenue Optimization, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), QA Testing, Enterprise SaaS, Android App Design, iOS App Design, JSON API, Process Documentation, Client Presentations, Growth Hacking, Growth Marketing, Customer Service, Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Strategy, User Research, Content Strategy, Writing & Editing, Content Creation, Consulting, Finance Product Manager, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Technical Hiring, Software as a Service (SaaS), Release Management, Digital Experience Design, Agile Leadership, Market Strategy and Research Product Manager, Monetization, Product Conceptualization, Marketing, Conversion Rate, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, UX Research, Validated User Research, B2C Marketing, Cross-functional Team Leadership, SEO Tools, SEO Marketing, Go-to-market Plans, Community Growth, Jobs to be Done (JTBD), Quantitative User Research, Social Media Apps, Subscription Processing, Two-sided Marketplaces, Cloud Services, Internet of Things (IoT), Project Scheduling, Organic SEO, Back-end as a Service (BaaS), Vendor Management, Data Reporting, Digital Transformation, Project Consultancy, ROI, B2B Product Management, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Branding, Social Media, Mapping, Web3, Tokenomics, Cryptocurrency, Fintech Consultant, Machine Learning, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Team Mentoring, Stripe Payments, Real Time Data Management, ERP Implementation, Travel & Leisure, SAP, Gaming Platforms, Social APIs, Tokenization, Discord, FlutterFlow, Accessibility, Web Accessibility, Conversational AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI Agent Orchestration, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Programming, Fundraising, ERD, Payment APIs, Card Payments, Online Payments, Mobile Payments, Mobile Banking, Online Banking, Prepaid Cards, Credit Card Processing, Technical Drawing, API Documentation, Lucidchart, P2P, Angel Investing, User Requirements, Architecture, Viral Marketing, Budgeting, Production, Big Data, Technical Writing, User-generated Content (UGC), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Education, Web Scraping, Videos, Replit, Large Language Model Operations (LLMOps), Webflow, Next.js, Linear, React, AI Enablement, Enterprise AI, ServiceNow, Claude Code, Codex, IT Service Management (ITSM)
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