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.

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 →

Music · Streaming · Creator Economy

⚡ Softbolt

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 →

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 →

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 →

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

SaaS · Music · CTV · Streaming

📺 StreamSpindle

Full-stack SaaS platform that gives independent music labels their own branded Roku channel — SVOD, AVOD, royalty reporting, DDEX ERN ingestion, and territory rights management. Built end-to-end with AI: API, dashboard, admin tools, and Roku channel infrastructure.

Cloudflare Workers D1 · R2 Stripe Roku Resend Twilio DDEX ERN TypeScript
streamspindle.com →

Where I've Shipped

Menos Labs · Full-time

Product Lead AI

Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 3 mos

Greater Chicago Area · Hybrid

  • Building AI concepts and practical applications for SaaS and enterprise platforms
  • Reinforced modern discovery-to-delivery workflows and outcome-based planning practices
  • Enable clients with clearer prioritization, stronger AI product fluency, and sharper leadership focus
  • Delivered StreamSpindle — full-stack SaaS platform for independent music labels to launch branded Roku channels; 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

  • Improved delivery efficiency by 30% by establishing structured agile framework across product, development, and business partners
  • Increased online sales conversion to $500K+/month via SaaS integration of Instacart
  • Increased in-store productivity by 20% via Relex Pro mobile AI integration and adoption
  • Scaled execution across blended team of 4 direct reports + 8 consultants

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 by shaping enhancement proposals and aligning stakeholders
  • Conducted eCommerce audit translating findings into prioritized, actionable roadmap recommendations

Codal

Senior Product Manager

Oct 2021 – Oct 2022

Chicago, IL

  • Delivered MVP eCommerce site, POS, and WMS in 10 months from discovery to release
  • Contributed to $1M+ in new business via pitch strategy and roadmap exercises
  • Managed vendor ecosystem: BigCommerce, Teamwork Commerce, Adyen

Cognizant

Senior Product Manager

Oct 2020 – Oct 2021

Chicago, IL

  • Led waterfall-to-agile transformation for CU Direct, establishing sprint rituals and backlog standards
  • Guided front-end and portal design in Figma, tied to measurable user outcomes
  • Consulted on story requirements supporting AWS CloudFront + SageMaker integration work

Southeastern Grocers

Senior Product Manager

Mar 2019 – Feb 2020

Jacksonville, FL

  • Delivered 3-brand mobile app MVP in 6 months; launched 3-brand loyalty program in 7 months
  • Improved cross-team delivery efficiency by 25% via agile best practices
  • Built middleware across AWS, Sitecore, and native frameworks for 6 mobile apps across 3 brands

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
  • Achieved venture capital acquisition within 3 years through product traction and licensing
  • Led platform build across iOS, Android, and web; secured music licensing across multiple regions

Avis Budget Group

Director of Product, Mobile & Global Services

Jun 2014 – Jan 2016

New York, NY

  • Delivered improved mobile app + connected car initiative in under 12 months
  • Produced 1/3/5-year roadmap for connected car scalability and global rollout
  • Managed RFP submissions, vendor procurement, and legal review for third-party partners

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
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