Available for new opportunities

David O'Brien

Product Leader · Builder · Operator

10+ years delivering digital, SaaS, and enterprise platforms across retail, eCommerce, mobility, and consumer experiences. I build teams that ship and products that stick.

David O'Brien
10+ Years Experience
30% Delivery Efficiency Gain
$500K+ Monthly Conversion Driven
400K Daily Active Users
$1M+ New Business Influenced

I turn complexity
into clarity, and
clarity into shipped product.

I'm a product leader with deep roots in building and modernizing digital products: retail, eCommerce, mobility, SaaS, and enterprise platforms. I've worked everywhere from Fortune 500s to venture-backed startups and know how to calibrate my approach to what the team and business actually need.

I'm most effective close to the problem: working alongside engineering and design, sharpening scope, and building operating systems that make delivery repeatable. I lead with outcomes, not output.

Increasingly, that means leading with AI. I've shipped AI-integrated products, from mobile demand forecasting tools to SageMaker-backed workflows, and spent dedicated time upskilling in generative AI, LLM applications, and AI-enabled product practices. I'm focused on bringing that fluency to teams building the next wave of intelligent products.

Product Leadership Digital Transformation Agile / SAFe / Scrum Roadmaps & MVP Delivery Stakeholder Management Backlog & Requirements Vendor & RFP Management eCommerce & POS Payments & FinTech AI Product Strategy Generative AI AI / Forecasting Integrations LLM Applications AI-Enabled Workflows Mobile & Web Platforms Data & Systems Integration Analytics & Experimentation Team Building

Case Studies

Built practical AI

During my career break I didn't just study AI: I built with it. coding and integrating AI, I've been prototyping and shipping real products. This portfolio site itself was built with AI.

NonProfit · eCommerce · Marketing

❤️ mo♥nation

mo♥nation (more + donation) is a beautiful donation widget for your website, with one honest flat monthly price. Convert more visitors into donors, and never give up a cut of what they give. Not a percentage. Not a “tip.” Nothing.

monation.org →

Social Media · Creative

✨ SuperAwesome

SuperAwesome is a social media for the socially awkward, and its sole purpose is to make social media fun again.

superawesomewebsite.com →

AI Assistant · SaaS · Personal Brand

🤖 Ask

A live AI assistant that answers questions about my experience, skills, and background. Built and deployed via Cloudflare Workers.

ask.menoslabs.com →

AI · Video · Coaching

🎥 OnCamera

OnCamera is a practice studio for video interviews, presentations, and pitches: any moment where how you come across on camera matters. Open it in your browser, hit record, and start talking. While you're rolling, a live coach watches your delivery in real time: when your eyes drift off the lens, when your pace gets rushed, when the lighting drops, when you hold a pause too long.

oncamera.menoslabs.com →

Music · Visualization · Creator Tools

🎵 Waveform

Upload any track and watch it transform into real-time geometric visuals. Free beta: download your video, no account needed.

waveform.rocks →

Retail · AI · Forecasting

📊 Retail AI Dashboard

AI-powered demand forecasting and inventory management dashboard with live KPIs, restock alerts, and a Claude-powered insights panel, inspired by my Relex Pro work at US Foods.

dobdobdobdob.github.io/retail-ai-dashboard →

Music · Streaming · Creator Economy

⚡ Softbolt · Coming soon

Artist-owned music streaming: think Substack for musicians. Every artist gets their own branded streaming page, direct fan subscriptions, and full ownership of their audience.

github.com/dobdobdobdob/softbolt →

Portfolio · Design · AI-Generated

This Portfolio Site

Designed and built entirely using copy, animations, and code and AI. A demonstration that modern PMs don't just spec products, they can ship them. Built in days, not weeks.

Claude AI HTML / CSS / JS GitHub Pages

Where I've Shipped

Monation.org

Product & Business Lead

Sep 2025 – Present

Chicago, IL

  • Pioneered the 0-to-1 development and launch of a specialized CRM SaaS platform, equipping nonprofits with automated marketing content workflows and integrated fundraising capabilities
  • Accelerated product delivery by pioneering a hybrid development model, combining generative AI-assisted engineering for rapid prototyping with a curated, outsourced global development team for production-grade scaling
  • Scaled the platform's user base to 100+ active users within the first 8 months through targeted go-to-market strategies and product-led growth initiatives
  • Architected and managed the core tech stack, integrating Stripe, JavaScript, and Cloudflare for secure donation processing and global scalability

Menos Labs · Full-time

Product Lead AI

Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 3 mos

Greater Chicago Area · Hybrid

  • Built and launched proprietary SaaS platforms (menoslabs.com), generating $10K+ via word of mouth with no marketing budget
  • Led a customer-experience redesign for an established event & touring management platform, preserving the navigation and muscle memory veteran users relied on while promoting live budget-vs-pace, owner-assigned tasks, and a unified crew comms thread to the dashboard as the core of the daily workflow
  • Delivered client SaaS work including StreamSpindle, enabling influencers to publish to the Roku app store via RSS; integrated Cloudflare Workers, D1, R2, Stripe, Roku, Twilio, Resend, and DDEX ERN 3.8.2 from scratch using AI-assisted development
  • Delivered Ask: an interactive resume and portfolio site using AI
  • Delivered Waveform: a free audio visualizer for content creators

US Foods (CHEF'STORE)

Product Lead

Apr 2023 – Jul 2024

Rosemont, IL

  • Increased online sales conversion to $500K+/month by leading the SaaS integration of Instacart and coordinating cross-functional launch readiness
  • Increased in-store productivity by 20% by leading Relex Pro (store-associate mobile AI) integration and driving adoption with operational partners
  • Improved delivery efficiency by 30% by establishing a structured agile framework and operating rhythm across a blended team of 4 direct reports and 8 consultants
  • Owned Azure DevOps backlog quality and release planning for Dynamics 365 + SaaS services, presenting bi-weekly progress to senior leaders with risks and dependencies

Bounteous

Product Lead (Contract)

Oct 2022 – Apr 2023

Chicago, IL

  • Increased online-ordering ROI by 28% via DoorDash + Olo SaaS integrations
  • Unlocked $250K in additional investment through stakeholder alignment and enhancement proposals

Codal

Senior Product Manager

Oct 2021 – Oct 2022

Chicago, IL

  • Delivered an MVP eCommerce site, POS, and WMS in 10 months
  • Managed the vendor ecosystem: BigCommerce, Adyen, Teamwork Commerce
  • Contributed to $1M+ in new business

Cognizant

Senior Product Manager

Oct 2020 – Oct 2021

Chicago, IL

  • Led a waterfall-to-agile transformation for CU Direct
  • Consulted on AWS CloudFront + SageMaker integration
  • Consulted on Azure DevOps backlog standards

Southeastern Grocers

Senior Product Manager

Mar 2019 – Feb 2020

Jacksonville, FL

  • Delivered a 3-brand mobile app MVP in 6 months and a 3-brand mobile loyalty program in 7 months, owning roadmap execution, backlog health, and sprint delivery in Jira
  • Improved cross-team delivery efficiency by 25% by implementing agile best practices across IT, design agency, and marketing partners
  • Enabled content updates across 3 brands and 6 mobile apps by partnering with Solution Architecture on AWS/Sitecore middleware

Humbolt

Product & Business Development

Jan 2016 – May 2019

New York, NY

  • Grew to 50,000 monthly active users in 3 months by launching a B2C music streaming app with a rapid build-and-iterate product approach
  • Achieved a venture-capital acquisition within 3 years by building a scalable product, securing multi-region content licensing, and proving traction
  • Led product and a development team across iOS, Android, and web using AWS Edge, GraphQL, CloudFront, S3, and AudioSalad for XML/audio workflows

Avis Budget Group

Director of Product, Mobile & Global Services

Jun 2014 – Jan 2016

New York, NY

  • Led end-to-end connected-car digital transformation, shipping an improved mobile app in under 12 months
  • Delivered an industry-first voice reservation capability (Avis Voice) by leading development using Google Voice APIs
  • Produced a 1/3/5-year roadmap for connected-car scalability and profitability
  • Managed RFP submissions and vendor procurement/legal review; translated panel research into prioritized, sequenced mobile improvements

From.Digital

Director of Product Management

Jan 2014 – Jun 2014

New York, NY

  • Earned acquisition of services within 6 months via high-impact mobile assessment and roadmap for Avis/Budget
  • Delivered industry-first voice reservation capability using Google Voice APIs

What I Work With

Product / Delivery

Roadmaps MVP Definition Agile / Scrum SAFe Epics / Features / Stories Backlog Prioritization Discovery Stakeholder Alignment Vendor Management RFPs

Domains

Digital Transformation SaaS ERP / CRM eCommerce POS Payments Mobility / IoT Dining / Hospitality Retail

ERP / Payments / POS

Dynamics 365 SAP Adyen Stripe FreedomPay Avalara NCR Teamwork Commerce Olo

AI / Forecasting

Relex Demand Forecasting Relex Pro AWS SageMaker AI Product Strategy Prompt Engineering

Tools

Jira Confluence Azure DevOps Figma Mixpanel Optimizely Google Analytics Power BI Tableau

Cloud / Tech

AWS Google Cloud Microsoft Azure Python SQL GraphQL MongoDB iOS Android HTML / CSS / JS

Ready to build
something great?

Whether you're hiring a product leader or looking for a fractional PM to drive delivery, I'd love to talk.

Ask David
AI assistant · Powered by Claude
DO
Hi! I'm David's AI assistant. Ask me anything about his experience, skills, or background.