Akshit Kumar
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Toptal member since December 2, 2021
Akshit is a product and strategy leader with 10 years of experience driving innovation across eCommerce, fintech, B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and AI applications. He has co-founded multiple ventures, secured multi-million dollar funding rounds, and achieved successful exits through acquisition. Akshit excels at guiding products from 0 to 1, scaling platforms to 10+ million users, and leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies alongside proven Agile methodologies to create impactful digital solutions.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Data Analysis
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Low-code Development
- No-code Development
- Product Management
- Product Requirements Documentation (PRD)
- Project Management
- Seed Fundraising
Work Experience
Product Owner
Syngenta - Syngenta AG
- Led the product strategy and execution for "Loryn," an enterprise-wide, LLM-powered conversational AI agent designed to automate IT service management (ITSM) and improve the global employee experience.
- Managed the end-to-end product roadmap for AI-driven customer experience solutions, translating complex stakeholder requirements into actionable development plans for cross-functional engineering and design teams.
- Designed and implemented advanced AI workflows, including automated incident routing via predictive intelligence (PI), self-service template (SST) integration, and smart software provisioning across global queues.
- Collaborated closely with platform teams to integrate the chatbot with ServiceNow (API/Record Producers) and Microsoft Graph, enabling automated fulfillment for software licenses, SharePoint access, and general IT troubleshooting.
- Conducted deep-dive UX discovery and flow design, mapping out conversational decision trees to ensure the AI seamlessly handed off complex edge cases to human agents while maximizing ticket deflection.
Product Manager
Right Click Save Ltd
- Joined as the 1st dedicated product manager, partnering directly with founders to define product vision, roadmap, and execution strategy across editorial, community, and platform initiatives.
- Led 0-to-1 product discovery for a new community platform layer, translating high-level vision into structured problem statements, user journeys, PRDs, and phased MVP scope.
- Designed and shipped core community mechanics (contribution flows, moderation concepts, reputation signals, access controls) to support creator participation and sustainable engagement.
- Established lightweight product operating cadence (weekly planning, async documentation, decision logs) to improve cross-team alignment in a fully remote, global setup.
- Collaborated closely with engineering to scope features realistically, break initiatives into milestones, and balance speed vs. quality in an early-stage environment.
- Supported early GTM thinking by mapping user acquisition loops, onboarding flows, and engagement levers tied to editorial distribution and community participation.
Community & Product Growth Specialist
Jenna SA - Financial Services Venture (Global)
- Engaged during post-MVP, pre-growth phase to design and execute strategies for activating an early user base (around 30 users) and validating scalable community mechanics.
- Designed and tested incentive structures (reputation signals, contribution rewards, recognition mechanics) to encourage high-quality stock idea sharing and peer evaluation.
- Collaborated closely with the founder (ex-private banking) to translate financial domain goals into product mechanics understandable to retail users.
- Delivered a prioritized product and growth roadmap, then built a low-code working prototype outlining near-term engagement levers and longer-term community scalability considerations.
Founding Product Manager
Reunion
- Led product strategy and user research for a Gen Z-focused journaling app, combining AI-driven self-reflection prompts with social accountability features.
- Developed a personalized GPT-powered journaling companion, utilizing advanced prompt engineering, tone analysis, and weekly AI recap generation using LLM-based insights.
- Defined and prioritized feature sets, including an AI prompt generator, GPT journaling assistant, and mood-based journaling flows, balancing business goals with user retention metrics.
- Designed a freemium monetization model integrating AI insights, habit tracking, and data-driven UX experiments across mobile platforms.
- Conducted competitive research and data analysis to inform product positioning, pricing strategy, and go-to-market plans targeting the Gen Z digital wellness market.
Founding Product Manager
Quibbi
- Led the end-to-end product strategy and roadmap development of an AI-augmented mobile platform focused on accessible housing support for people with disabilities.
- Designed comprehensive PRDs including GPT-4 API integration for personalized service matching, user journey flows, and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance specifications.
- Architected integration planning for no-code platforms (FlutterFlow) with back-end solutions (Firebase and GPT-4 API), ensuring scalable architecture for AI/ML-driven personalization.
- Conducted competitive analysis, market sizing, and early-stage fundraising support, including NSF seed fund applications and VC pitch deck development.
Founding Product Manager
WatchWerkz
- Led full-stack development and deployment of a luxury eCommerce platform, managing front-end, back-end, and cloud hosting workflows while implementing custom CMS capabilities for non-technical users.
- Architected migration from legacy hosting to scalable cloud infrastructure using Railway and Coolify, optimizing for 99.9% uptime and long-term maintainability.
- Integrated Stripe payments processing (test and live modes), user role management, and dynamic product metadata systems, delivering a comprehensive eCommerce solution within an accelerated timeline.
Founding Product Manager
FeFoSys
- Led end-to-end product strategy for a retail SaaS platform targeting African SMBs, architecting a comprehensive POS and inventory management solution using a modern tech stack (React and Supabase).
- Designed a scalable architecture supporting 1,000+ stores by processing 250+ daily receipts per location and implementing advanced features, including FEFO inventory optimization, Bluetooth printer integration, and multi-tenant role-based access control.
- Developed a subscription management system with Paystack integration and architected AI-assisted helpdesk flows using GPT-based chat assistants for automated customer support and operational efficiency.
- Created comprehensive product documentation, including PRDs, user flows, and wireframes, establishing operational processes for international market expansion across emerging economies.
Product Consultant
Technogise
- Developed an end-to-end school management platform, enhancing operational efficiency for one of India's largest school groups. The platform is live across 20+ schools and is used by over 50,000 DAUs.
- Created a mobile app (Android and iOS, React Native) to facilitate seamless parent-teacher communication, improving engagement and collaboration.
- Implemented a SaaS solution that streamlined daily back office operations, including admissions, fee management, and staff management.
Product Owner
Yara
- Owned two key mobile apps: FarmCare and FarmGo. Led the launch of crops in new regions and maintenance of existing ones across India, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
- Handled daily decisions for quick and scalable implementation. Created user stories, defined acceptance criteria, prioritized product backlog based on program increment planning, and tracked project status to ensure delivery of high-value features.
- Worked with Scrum leads to foster a culture of collaboration, manage team dynamics, and set clear team goals for successful solutions development and an exciting work environment and experience.
Product Manager
Invisibly
- Released mobile apps where users can access premium news content, like NYT and WSJ, by paying only for the content they consume, rather than paying full subscription fees. The news content was aggregated through APIs and personalized for the users.
- Worked with senior executives to build a product roadmap for the Invisibly Android and iOS mobile app in sync with the company vision and goals. Successfully launched a new, reiterated version of the mobile app in a quarter.
- Collaborated with the design and engineering team to release a revamped product across 12 sprints. Created Jira tickets and maintained Jira boards to ensure effective workflow between multiple stakeholders.
Product Manager
Ather Energy
- Worked with the senior leadership to build quarterly roadmaps in sync with the company vision. Converted these roadmaps into projects to be executed by the engineering team.
- Ensured efficient workflow across multiple stakeholders to launch growth features like personalized ride statistics across four sprints. Increased the number of users by 40% MoM, analyzed user behavior data, and built data dashboards for features.
- Collaborated with the research team to conduct market study and competitive research. Set up and conducted user interviews to understand user sentiment for the product.
Product Manager
Zeta Account
- Launched a new prepaid card product for a new target customer segment for India's largest private-sector bank.
- Collaborated with the client's product team and our design team to build Android and iOS mobile app prototypes.
- Worked with the engineering team to build modules, such as KYC and compliance, and integrate the APIs with the mobile app.
- Partnered with the back-end developers to build a scalable architecture that could concurrently support one million transactions per second for the 50+ million userbase.
Product Lead
Meru Cabs
- Collaborated with the sales team to gather requirements from corporate clients for the B2B2C employee commute solution, which was new to the market.
- Distilled multiple client requirements into an MVP PRD and built a one-year product roadmap.
- Led the product, data, and design team to build an MVP for two mobile apps (Android and iOS) for the rider and one web portal for the client admin. We completed this in one quarter via six sprints, and the MVP CSAT was 92.
- Collaborated with the C-suite leadership team to build pitch decks and revenue models for a successful acquisition by India's second-largest conglomerate, Mahindra & Mahindra.
Product Manager
Ithaka
- Worked with the leadership team to build a revenue model for the business.
- Collaborated with the engineering team to revamp user acquisition funnels in the mobile apps and reduced active user churn rates by 64%.
- Worked with the product and engineering teams to implement two revenue-generating features in the mobile apps, which increased MRR by 2x in one quarter.
- Collaborated with the marketing teams to launch user growth campaigns that increased the number of bookings by 12% week-over-week.
Co-founder and CEO
RentEzee
- Built RentEzee, a P2P marketplace to rent and rent out products. Raised an angel round, was selected to participate in the Y Combinator startup school, and had a successful exit via acquisition.
- Developed the product (Android and iOS apps) from zero to 17,000 products available for rent across eight product categories, such as travel gear, cameras and drones, and sports equipment.
- Partnered with my co-founder (COO) to devise a strategy to successfully execute 40+ orders and physical product deliveries per day, resulting in $100,000+ in MRR.
Product Manager
Fitpass
- Collaborated with the CEO to understand the user and competitive market and create a long-term product roadmap.
- Worked with the engineering teams to launch two mobile apps (Android and iOS) across fitness and nutrition services.
- Scaled the business in two years from 10 to 2,500+ partnerships with fitness studios and the mobile user app by 12x to 150,000 weekly active users. The company became the fittech market leader.
- Partnered with the sales team to gather user feedback and maintain the CSAT at 80+.
- Collaborated with the marketing team on communications to keep the product and social media campaigns in sync.
- Worked with the leadership team to build an investment strategy and presentation decks to raise a $1 million seed round.
Project History
Enterprise AI Support Chatbot: Automating ITSM & Ticket Deflection
- 50,000+ — Manual IT Tickets Deflected Monthly
- 4,000+ — Support Emails Auto-resolved Monthly
- 12 Seconds — Automated L2 Reassignment Time Using Predictive Intelligence
A global enterprise faced 50K+ manual tier-1 IT tickets monthly. Despite a robust ServiceNow catalog, employees struggled to navigate it for routine software or licensing requests. This high-friction experience overwhelmed the L1 helpdesk, caused long resolution times, and created endless email loops for simple issues, driving the need for an intelligent, automated deflection layer.
• Strategy: I defined the roadmap for an enterprise LLM conversational AI agent to autonomously execute ITSM tasks.
• UX: I architected contextual workflows, allowing the AI to extract business justifications directly from chat rather than rigid forms.
• Integrations: I connected the AI to ServiceNow APIs for in-chat Self-Service Template (SST) creation, and MS Graph for M365 license provisioning.
• Routing: I leveraged ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence to analyze unstructured chats and auto-route incidents to L2 teams.
• I deflected 50,000+ manual IT tickets and 4,000+ emails monthly via in-chat automation.
• I cut L2 triage to 12s using ServiceNow predictive intelligence.
• I transformed IT support into an AI-powered conversational chat, improving UX.
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 for Meru App
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:
-
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.
-
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, 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), 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)
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring