Uta Knablein | Chief Product Officer

"AI does not transform organizations. Redesigning the systems AI operates in does."

Uta Knäblein

I integrate AI into product, platforms, and operating models. I diagnose what limits scale, align organizations around measurable outcomes, and redesign the systems that determine performance.

Organizations rarely struggle because they lack ideas or talent. They struggle because their systems were designed for an earlier stage of growth.

I have spent my career at these inflection points, the moments when a company needs to evolve its structure, not just optimize what exists. Every role I have held, from FinTech to AdTech, ConsumerTech to HealthTech, followed the same pattern: a platform business sitting on behavioral data it was not yet using, an operating model built for an earlier stage, and a team ready to do more if the systems let them.

That is what I do. I redesign operating models, decision systems, and monetization architecture so organizations can scale beyond the stage they were built for. I integrate AI into product, platforms, and workflows, not as a technology layer, but as a business system grounded in unit economics, LTV, NRR, and payback periods. I manage the tension between protecting today's balance sheet and building tomorrow's valuation.

This work has taken me through JPMorgan Chase, where I led product experience and the integration of the BloomSpot acquisition into Chase Offers; Outbrain, where I worked from a prediction engine's output to understand what moved a person to act on a recommendation; iHeartMedia, where I ran product for the Digital Audio Group while the segment grew revenue 14% to $1.16B and adjusted EBITDA 23% to $379M between 2022 and 2024, organically and in a declining broadcast market; and WeightWatchers, where I led global product and experience strategy and built the first party data foundation underneath it.

I build cross-functional organizations. At iHeartMedia that was eight teams and more than 300+ people, aligned around one definition of success instead of competing ones.

I am a US and German citizen, fluent in both languages, well versed in the EU AI Act and DORA, and familiar with SEC disclosure and Nasdaq governance as a former Section 16 officer.

I sit on the board of ZerøFHE, a deep-tech company in fully homomorphic encryption, and I am Executive in Residence for Digital Transformation at NYU School of Professional Studies.

MY EXPERTISE

My approach to product strategy begins with the customer, then the economics of the business, not the roadmap. I align product direction with unit economics, CAC/LTV dynamics, margin structure, and capital efficiency so every decision strengthens enterprise performance.

Modern products do not scale through funnels. They scale through loops: self-reinforcing systems where acquisition, retention, and monetization compound. I design product ecosystems around this architecture, aligning product, marketing, sales, data, engineering and finance around a shared growth engine.

The goal is not conversion. It is to build systems where value creation and value capture compound, strengthening retention, accelerating growth, and increasing long-term enterprise value.

AI does not transform organizations on its own. The systems AI operates in do. I integrate AI into product, platforms, and operating models embedding it into decision infrastructure, personalization, adaptive experiences, monetization, and workflows, not bolting it on as a feature.

Sustainable innovation is the output of well-designed systems, not isolated ideas. I build environments where experimentation is disciplined, learning is continuous, and innovation becomes repeatable rather than accidental - combining bold thinking with operational rigor so risk is intentional, measured, and economically sound.

The goal is not innovation velocity. It is innovation that improves efficiency, strengthens margins, and compounds enterprise value.

Brand and experience are not surface-level expressions, they are an integrated system that directly influences revenue, trust, and enterprise value. Strong brands are built through consistent signals across every interaction: visual, verbal, behavioral, technological, and cultural.

I build scalable experience frameworks that ensure coherence across platforms and touchpoints, reducing friction, improving conversion, strengthening retention, and increasing lifetime value. When brand and experience are aligned with operating models and decision systems, customer trust compounds, adoption accelerates, and growth becomes more efficient over time.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

At iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group, revenue grew 14% to $1.16B and adjusted EBITDA 23% to $379M between 2022 and 2024, a 32.5% margin, organically and
with no digital acquisitions.

AS YOUR CPO

The executive team will be aligned across product, sales, finance, marketing, engineering, and technology. AI investments will be embedded in the operating model, not stuck in pilots. Teams will know what they are building and why.

AI-Integration

Organizations are adding AI everywhere and seeing returns nowhere. I embed AI into product, platforms, and operating models so it drives decisions, monetization, and growth - not just demos.

Structural Transformation

I redesign operating models, decision systems and execution infrastructure so organizations can scale beyond the stage they were built for. You can tell it is working when every engineering hour competes on return rather than on who asked loudest.

Financial Architecture

I manage the tension between protecting today's balance sheet and building tomorrow's valuation. Product-led growth, unit economics, and monetization architecture grounded in P&L accountability, not theory.

AS YOUR BOARD MEMBER

Product and technology oversight from someone who has sat in the operator's chair rather than advised from outside it. A former Section 16 officer who knows SEC disclosure from doing it, not from a briefing document. Someone well versed in the EU AI Act and DORA. And a US and German citizen at the table, fluent in both languages and both markets.

DATA POINTS

$1.16B

DIGITAL AUDIO SEGMENT REVENUE (2024)

US PATENTS

FLUENT IN ENGLISH AND GERMAN

+23%

ADJUSTED EBITDA, 2022 TO 2024

300+

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAM SIZE

BACHELOR IN DIGITAL MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

(NYU)

MASTER IN LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION

(UQ BIZ SCHOOL)

CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL COACH (ICF-PCC)
CERTIFIED EXECUTIVE AND LEADERSHIP COACH (CEC)
NEUROSCIENCE CERTIFIED COACH (IPHM)
CERTIFIED PRACTITIONER, PXT SELECT

OPERATING

ROLES

WeightWatchers
iHeartMedia
Viacom / Nickelodeon
Outbrain
JPMorgan Chase
American Express
CNBC

BOARD, ADVISORY & ACADEMIC

ZerøFHE

NYU (SPS)

German Accelerator

CURRENT

WORK

AI Advisory in Regulated Industries

Learning Platforms

Go-To-Market for Early-Stage Deep Tech

Executive Coaching
EXECTUIVE

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER | PRODUCT P&L |
AI IN THE OPERATING MODEL

"AI does not transform organizations. Redesigning the systems AI operates in does."

Uta Knäblein

MY EXPERTISE

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

At iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group, revenue grew 14% to $1.16B and adjusted EBITDA 23% to $379M between 2022 and 2024, a 32.5% margin, organically and
with no digital acquisitions.

AS YOUR CPO

AS YOUR BOARD MEMBER

DATA POINTS

Let's Talk

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER | PRODUCT P&L | AI IN THE OPERATING MODEL

"AI does not transform organizations. Redesigning the systems AI operates in does."

Uta Knäblein

MY EXPERTISE

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

At iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group, revenue grew 14% to $1.16B and adjusted EBITDA 23% to $379M between 2022 and 2024, a 32.5% margin, organically and with no digital acquisitions.

AS YOUR CPO

AS YOUR BOARD MEMBER

DATA POINTS

Let's Talk

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER | PRODUCT P&L |
AI IN THE OPERATING MODEL

At iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group, revenue grew 14% to $1.16B and adjusted EBITDA 23% to $379M between 2022 and 2024, a 32.5% margin, organically and
with no digital acquisitions.