Agentic AI Execution

Leena Agarwal

The podcast for TPMs, product managers, and builders shipping real AI systems. No hype, no frameworks — just honest conversations about what it actually takes to move from model to production.
Topics include agentic AI, AI program execution, stakeholder alignment, technical roadmaps, and building trust in AI-driven orgs. Hosted by Leena Agarwal, 18-year TPM veteran from Amazon and Meta.
New episodes every week. Built for tech leaders who ship.

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34 episodes
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Avg 27 min
English

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S1 · E17
July 28 · 40 min
Is Agentic AI FOMO Real? How to Lead When Half Your Team is AI Agents | Ep. 17
In Episode #17 of the Agentic AI Execution Podcast, host Leena sits down with Myra Deshmukh—a 10-year Amazon veteran and founder of Leadership Lab—to break down what leadership actually looks like when half your team consists of AI agents. If you've been feeling "Agentic AI FOMO" or overwhelmed by how fast tech is moving, this episode is a must-watch. Myra shares her golden rule for AI, how to avoid outsourcing critical thinking, and why human judgment is your greatest asset in an automated world ---------------------------------------------------⏱️ TIMESTAMPS---------------------------------------------------00:00 - Intro: Leading when half your team is AI agents 00:32 - Welcome Myra Deshmukh (Leadership Lab & Ex-Amazon) 01:15 - Dealing with uncertainty & Agentic AI FOMO03:40 - Delegate work, keep judgment: Avoiding over-validation09:30 - How leadership style is changing in top tech companies 14:10 - Simple ways to build authentic relationships & trust at work 21:15 - The Manager's Insurance Policy: Verifying agent output29:50 - What to do if you feel overwhelmed or behind with AI 38:10 - Final advice for leaders & wrapping up ---------------------------------------------------🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS---------------------------------------------------• Check out Leadership Lab: https://www.leadership-lab.co/• Connect with Myra Deshmukh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myra-deshmukh/• Leena | Agentic AI Execution Podcast https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/ #AgenticAI #Leadership #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #ProductManagement #LeadershipLab #TechLeadership
S1 · E16
July 22 · 24 min
What actually separates teams that ship AI from teams that are just demoing it?
With AI accelerating data flow, human alignment and judgment have become the ultimate bottlenecks in product development. If you are still relying on traditional, slow decision hierarchies, you are falling behind in the age of agentic intelligence.In this episode of *Agentic AI Execution*, Anjali—who leads AI programs on Google Maps and mentors over 100 startup founders—breaks down how to deliver AI products at a scale of billions. We explore why human-in-the-loop is still non-negotiable despite rising automation, how the Technical Program Manager (TPM) role is morphing into a multi-hyphenate AI builder, and the practical agentic workflows she uses every day to reclaim her time .*⏳ Timestamps:* *0:00* - Introduction: Leading AI at Google Maps and mentoring 100+ AI founders *0:27* - Product thinking for 1 user vs. 1 billion users *1:10* - How LLMs changed data analysis and product architecture *2:23* - Human alignment is the new bottleneck in tech *3:30* - The shift from 5 decisions a week to 20 decisions a day *3:37* - Why Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are taking over leadership decisions *4:00* - Automation vs. Human-in-the-Loop: An AI reporting case study *5:55* - Why AI is a database, not a thinker *6:23* - Will TPM, PM, and Engineering roles merge into one? *7:45* - How AI makes product leaders proactive instead of reactive *9:33* - How to stay relevant and "add value + 1" in an AI-driven market *11:00* - Transitioning careers: From Admin or UX Designer to PM using AI *12:00* - Anjali's AI stack: Gemini, NotebookLM, Claude, and Anti-Gravity *13:50* - Predictions: Agents will own everything on Google Maps in 2 years *15:00* - How Anjali uses daily AI agents to filter emails, pings, and tasks *16:23* - Final thoughts: "No one can take your job but you" *Anjali:* [ / anjalikakkadp ]( / anjalikakkadp ) *Leena:* [ / leenaagarwal ]( / leenaagarwal ) *🔗 Connections:*
S1 · E15
July 7 · 26 min
60% of Web Traffic is AI: Why You Must Stop Building for Humans
**The internet has fundamentally changed.** Over 60% of web traffic is now driven by AI agents, not humans. If you are still building landing pages and products exclusively for people, you are missing the biggest shift since the dot-com boom.In this episode of *Agentic AI Execution*, Mariane—Head of DevRel at You.com and founder of the Founders Bay community—breaks down why we are entering an AI renaissance rather than a bubble. We discuss why developers must evolve into "full-stack AI engineers" who manage 10-20 agents simultaneously to stay competitive. We also dive deep into the reality of building a massive community from scratch, the failure patterns of early-stage founders building in isolation, and the very real balancing act of scaling a career while managing mom guilt.**⏳ Timestamps:**0:00 - Over 60% of web traffic is now AI agents0:37 - Mariane's journey: Engineering leadership to You.com DevRel2:21 - The #1 reason AI founders fail: Building in isolation4:47 - Why you need to build websites for agents, not humans6:13 - AI Bubble vs. The AI Renaissance7:45 - Vibe Coding: Managing 10-20 agents at once9:11 - Handling bugs and CI/CD with AI-generated code11:21 - The rise of the Forward Deployed & Full Stack AI Engineer14:50 - Growing Founders Bay and building community from scratch18:30 - How to build an audience from zero today22:15 - The future of DevRel in an Agentic AI world23:30 - Managing burnout, parenting, and the reality of "mom guilt"26:06 - Closing thoughts: Keep building and showing up🔗 Connections:* Mariane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianebekker/ * Leena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/* Founders Bay Community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundersbaynetwork
S1 · E14
June 30 · 20 min
Why AI Agents Still Make Wrong Calls — Even With Perfect Memory | Adelina, Founder of Rory Plans
What if the hardest problem in AI agents isn't memory — it's judgment?In this episode of Agentic AI Execution, I sit down with Adelina — former colleague at Cruise, later at Vercel, and now founder of Rory Plans, building AI agents for organizational decision-making.We get into why agents with perfect memory still make the wrong recommendation, why bad decisions compound faster than you'd think, and what she wishes she'd known before quitting her job to start her company.In this conversation:→ Why memory tells an agent what happened — but not what matters→ What Cruise taught her about decisions under uncertainty, and how it applies to AI agents today→ Why Rory Brain exists to capture judgment, not just information→ Running "Lunch and Hack" events and what builders are getting wrong with AI agent memory→ Why she believes organizational intelligence — not bigger models — will define the winners in AI→ Her advice to founders: spend 80% of your time with customers, 20% building🔗 Connections:* Adelina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adelinamartiniuc/* Leena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/* Rory Plans: https://roryplans.aiTimestamps:00:00 Intro00:26 Adelina's journey: Cruise → Vercel → founding Rory Plans02:30 Why judgment is harder than memory for AI agents05:00 What Cruise taught her about decisions at scale07:30 Building Rory Brain to capture organizational judgment10:30 Lunch and Hack: what builders get wrong about agent memory13:30 Why organizational intelligence will define AI's winners17:00 Advice for founders: customers over building20:05 Closing takeaways + where to find Adelina#AgenticAI , #AIAgents , #TPM , #AI
S1 · E11
June 24 · 30 min
Why Your AI Agent is One API Key Away From a $20,000 Disaster 💸
*Are you vibe coding your way into a massive cloud billing nightmare?*AI agents are already writing code, reviewing ads, and making autonomous decisions. But who is actually watching them? In this episode, Leena sits down with Lulu, a data infrastructure expert who has scaled systems at Capital One, Block, and Reddit.They break down the "real talk" of scaling AI safely, why AI-generated code is breaking in production, and how a single unmonitored API key can cause a $20,000 disaster in less than 48 hours. If you are building with LLMs, this breakdown of infrastructure, guardrails, and cost-optimization will save your budget and your production systems.👇 *SUBSCRIBE* for more deep dives into the reality of engineering the AI boom.⏱️ Timestamps & Highlights *00:38* — Lulu’s journey: Inside data teams at Capital One, Block, & Reddit. *01:10* — Why your data infrastructure won't work at AI scale. *02:30* — How Reddit automates 90% of ad reviews using Gen AI enrichment. *04:30* — The hidden cost trap: Snowflake & Databricks vs. LLM scaling. *06:20* — Why running massive frontier models in production will "burn your car". *07:05* — Stop using frontier models for simple tasks (The Small Model Strategy). *09:20* — Why Stanford & Berkeley benchmarks are lying to you about real enterprise costs. *11:15* — What is "Contract-First Development" and why does AI code break? *15:00* — Building "seatbelts" for AI: Secure Kubernetes pods and real-time execution auditing. *18:15* — Startups vs. Enterprises: Compliance, SOC2, and the future of agent security. *21:30* — The Nightmare Scenario: Leaking API keys to your local coding agent. *23:00* — Lightning Round: The one hot take on AI code that engineers HATE. 🔗 🔗 Connections: Connect with Lulu: / luluchengengineeratheart Connect with Leena: / leenaagarwal
S1 · E12
June 16 · 32 min
Why AI Products Fail: Faster Execution Isn't Enough | Ex-Meta & Microsoft PM Revital
Engineering velocity just skyrocketed. Code is being written, tested, and shipped 10x faster than ever before thanks to generative and agentic AI.And yet — product failure rates are rising.Why? Because speeding up execution doesn't automatically mean progress. The bottleneck was never engineering. It was always judgment.In this episode, host Leena sits down with Revital — executive coach, startup advisor, and former product leader at Meta and Microsoft. With a career spanning BCG management consulting, finance, and chief of staff roles, Revital brings a deeply strategic lens to the AI transition every PM is navigating right now.We get into why Andrew Ng says PM is the new bottleneck in tech, how leaders use data to hide from hard decisions, and why human judgment under uncertainty is the ultimate competitive moat in the age of AI agents.If you're a PM, TPM, or tech leader navigating layoffs, AI anxiety, and shrinking team ratios — this is your blueprint.🔗 Work with Revital: invergency.com⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – Introduction: From BCG to Meta & Microsoft Product Leader01:25 – Navigating a Non-Linear Career (Letting Go of the Grand Plan)04:10 – What Shipping to Billions Teaches You About Psychological Safety07:35 – Safe Experimentation: B2B vs. B2C Startup Strategy11:05 – Is PM the New Bottleneck? The PM-to-Engineer Ratio Shift14:20 – Execution vs. Judgment: What AI Cannot Automate17:15 – The Decision Problem in Disguise (Are You Polishing Decks?)20:00 – The Human Edge: Why "The Glue" Matters More Than Ever22:50 – Imposter Syndrome, Perfectionism & Internal Narratives26:25 – Layoffs & AI Anxiety: The Truth About Losing Your Job to AI29:40 – Rebranding Networking: Connect Without Feeling Salesy31:10 – Rapid Fire: Self-Awareness & What a Great PM Looks Like in 5 Years 🔗 Connections:Connect with * Revital: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revitalpadovitz/* Connect with Leena : https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/
S1 · E11
June 15 · 20 min
Is The TPM Role Dying?
In this episode of Agentic AI Execution, Priyanka Shinde—founder of Solomate AI and former TPM leader at Meta and Cruise—joins the show. Following the massive wave of tech layoffs, Priyanka shares raw insights on why your job title might change, but your core execution and leadership skills are evergreen. We dive deep into how "English is the hottest new programming language", the reality of solo entrepreneurship, and how autonomous AI tools can buy your time back. ⏱️ Timestamps *00:00* – Intro: Is English the new programming language? *00:36* – From engineering back to building with cloud code *02:15* – Navigating the Big Tech layoff environment *04:10* – Why the TPM title is evolving into "AI Builders" *06:30* – Moving past chat prompts to autonomous AI *08:45* – Building Solomate AI for solo entrepreneurs *10:15* – Integration challenges: Context, judgment, and data privacy *13:20* – Can a one-person company hit a $1 Billion valuation? *15:45* – Strategic execution vs. leading with the solution *19:22* – Outro & 3 critical episode takeaways 🔗 Mentioned Links TPM Academy: https://www.tpmacademyai.com/ Solomate AI: https://www.solomate.ai/ 🔗 Connections: Connect with Priyanka Shinde: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyankash/ Connect with Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/
S1 · E10
May 26 · 28 min
Why Your AI Will Go Rogue (And How to Stop It)?
Most companies fall in love with their AI on day one. Nobody asks what happens on day two.In this episode of Agentic AI Execution, I sit down with Noelle Russell — Employee #10 at Amazon Alexa, founder of the AI Leadership Institute, and closing in on 1 million views on her TED Talk.We cover:→ Why most AI systems go rogue (and who's really responsible)→ The principle of least privilege — and why leaders get it wrong→ What a "symphony of talent" actually means when building AI→ The baby tiger analogy that will change how you think about AI→ Why human-in-the-loop isn't a compromise — it's the design🔗 Find Noelle at the AI Leadership Institute: https://noelle.ai/🔗 Connections:Connect with Noelle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noelleai/ Connect with Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/#AgenticAI #AILeadership #ResponsibleAI #AIStrategy #NoelleRussell #LeenaAgarwal #ArtificialIntelligence #AIExecution #TechLeadership #MachineLearning
S1 · E9
May 21 · 15 min
Your Time Is the New Currency | Energy, Innovation & Agentic AI
Anya Eydman advises startups, utilities, and government agencies on deploying real innovation in energy and critical infrastructure — some of the most regulated environments in the world.She's a 2x founder who has built partnerships across 400+ organizations and generated $15M+ in strategic value.She knows exactly what it takes to move from idea to real-world deployment.In this episode we cover:→ Why the biggest barrier to your future isn't a skill gap — it's fear→ How agentic AI is breaking traditional workflows across every industry→ What regulated markets teach us about responsible AI deployment→ Why your time — not your degree or title — is now your most valuable currency→ Why AI has quietly made us all beginners again — whether we like it or notWhether you're a founder, operator, or curious professional —this one's for you. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⏱️ CHAPTERS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 – Introduction 00:20 – How Anya uses AI for lead generation and networking02:00 – Energy infrastructure and why innovation is invisible from the outside 03:30 – What regulated markets teach us about agentic AI deployment 05:30 – How Anya advises founders, utilities, and government stakeholders 08:30 – Governance, regulation, and the shrinking MVP timeline 11:00 – Bridging the gap between AI speed and human capacity 12:30 – Why AI makes us all beginners — and what to do about it 14:30 – Time as the new currency ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 CONNECT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Anya Eydman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anyaeydman/ Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #AgenticAI #EnergyInnovation #AILeadership #FutureOfWork #StartupAdvisory #AIAdoption #CriticalInfrastructure #AIStrategy #DigitalTransformation #AIForBusiness
S1 · E8
May 21 · 14 min
What separates a real builder from someone just chasing the shiny thing?
Brendan Beh has run hundreds of hackathons across APAC and built AI.SEA — a grassroots network of 10,000+ builders across 8 APAC countries. He knows exactly who holds up under pressure and why.In this episode we cover:→ How to move fast in hackathons without blowing things up→ Why AI is best treated like a really smart intern→ What separates serious builders from surface-level hackers→ How APAC is being hit hardest by agentic AI disruption→ The one thing that kills every community: inconsistencyWhether you're a builder, founder, or community leader — this one's for you.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ CHAPTERS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━00:00 - Intro00:16 - Building Fast Without Blowing Things Up01:30 - AI as a Smart Intern: Where to Draw the Line02:00 - APAC & The AI Disruption Threat02:45 - How to Keep Pace With the AI Hype Cycle03:30 - Does Governance Help or Hurt Builders?04:10 - How to Know When to Trust Your Agent05:20 - What Separates Serious Builders from Hackers06:30 - Brendan's Aha Moment With AI07:45 - His Exact Tech Stack for Hackathons08:30 - How to Win (or Learn) at Hackathons09:45 - How to Build a Community From Scratch11:00 - Consistency: The #1 Rule of Community Building13:00 - Closing Thoughts━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🔗 CONNECT━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Brendan Beh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-beh/Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#AgenticAI #Hackathons #AIBuilders #APAC #ArtificialIntelligence
S1 · E7
May 19 · 21 min
Your Job Roles Aren’t Dissolving, They’re Evolving. Here’s How to Survive.
The Ultimate Tech Survival Guide: Rebuilding After Tech Layoffs & Thriving as an AI TPM 🚀What do you do when a "Reduction in Force" hits you at one of the biggest tech companies in the world?In this episode, we sit down with Kopal, a tech program leader with 15+ years of experience across Intel, Google, and Amazon. In April 2025, Kopal was caught in a massive Google layoff wave—driven by an industry reality where human capital is actively funding AI capital.Instead of panicking, updating LinkedIn, and pretending everything was fine, she paused, journaled, and completely reinvented her trajectory. Today, she’s at Amazon leading a team building Agentic Search.If you're feeling lost in the noise of AI changes, experiencing severe imposter syndrome, or hearing rumors that the TPM and Engineering roles are "dissolving," this masterclass is your reality check. The roles aren't dying—they are rapidly evolving.📌 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:The Layoff Mindset Shift: How to handle burnout, manage a career pause with your family, and separate your identity from your corporate job.System Design Prep That Actually Works: Why 30-second influencer clips are ruining your interview prep, and how to use deep-dive frameworks (like Hello Interview) to pass complex loops.The 14 Amazon Principles Hack: How to condense 100+ projects down to 7 core, high-impact examples that map to what FAANG interviewers are looking for.Traditional TPM vs. AI TPM: Why the modern AI Program Manager must understand resource economics (GPUs/CPUs, context windows, instance constraints) and know how to use AI to build custom automated tools.The Future of "Smartness": Why coding speed doesn't matter anymore. Smartness is now defined by how much time you can buy back for yourself using AI agents.⏱️ Timestamps:0:00 - Are tech roles actually dissolving?1:15 - Kopal’s transition from Google Ads to Amazon Agentic Search2:45 - The reality of the 2025/2026 Tech Layoffs (AI vs. Human Capital)4:20 - Overcoming imposter syndrome and having hard financial chats with family6:50 - Stop prepping with influencers: How to master System Design architecture9:15 - The Interview Hack: Filtering 100 projects into 7 core framework anchors11:30 - What makes an AI TPM different from a traditional TPM?13:15 - Navigating GPU, CPU, and cloud infrastructure economics in AI product stacks15:40 - How to build your own "AI Copilot Agent" to automate manual tracking18:00 - The final word: Your job needs you more than you need it.🔗 Resources Mentioned: Hello Interview: / @hello_interview Connect with Kopal: / copalnema Connect with Leena: / leenaagarwal 💬 Join the Conversation:Are you noticing your day-to-day tech responsibilities shifting because of AI? Do you think tech program management is becoming too hyper-technical, or is the human element more important than ever? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
S1 · E6
May 6 · 28 min
What does a responsible agentic AI workflow actually look like?
Ilya co-founded AWS Chatbot — now Amazon Q for Developers — before large language models even existed. Today he builds agentic AI platforms and has one of the most thoughtful personal AI systems I've come across. We worked together at AWS, and this conversation reminded me why his thinking has always been a step ahead.00:00 Introduction02:18 Why Ilya runs every AI workflow manually03:34 The local Git repo that acts as his personal AI assistant05:32 The /recap skill — daily email, Teams + transcript synthesis07:17 Voice memo pipeline using Whisper — zero data leaves his machine11:02 The Telegram bot that captures ideas while driving13:10 Bringing teams along on the AI journey18:07 Why demos beat mandates — the cultural shift21:20 AI as a trusted colleague — the Arnab analogy24:15 The mission beneath all this agentic work27:03 "It's not doing more with less. It's doing the same with less."🔗 Resources & Connections:Connect with Ilya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyabezdelev/Connect with Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/
S1 · E7
May 3 · 30 min
Vibe Coding Won't Save You — Here's What Will | Agentic AI Execution Ep. 5
Former Amazon Senior PM and Maven instructor GK joins the show to explain why "vibing" with AI isn't enough to build professional-grade systems. She introduces Spec Engineering—her tactical framework for moving beyond the prompt to build high-quality, deterministic AI agents.📌 Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction to GK2:15 - AI as a tool for Neurodivergence8:40 - Why Vibe Coding doesn't scale12:50 - The Spec Engineering Framework18:30 - Future of the PM workforce24:10 - Stop consuming, start thinking27:50 - Key Takeaways 🔗 Resources & Connections:Connect with GK: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gayathri-keerthana/Connect with Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/#AgenticAI #ProductManagement #SpecEngineering #AIPM #VibeCoding #ArtificialIntelligence
S1 · E4
May 2 · 24 min
AI Agent Signed a Legal Contract in Vietnam (Without My Permission) 📉 | Agentic AI Execution Ep. 4
In 2026, 36% of all new ventures are solo-founded. We are witnessing the birth of the "Invisible Enterprise"—a model where human founders stop "doing" and start "directing" a swarm of autonomous agents to handle everything from revenue operations to legal negotiations.In this episode of Agentic AI Execution, I sit down with Tim Cortinovis to discuss the shift from "Vibe Coding" prototypes to production-grade Agentic Revenue Systems. Tim shares the wild (and legally eye-opening) story of "Rick," an AI agent that autonomously negotiated and signed a publishing contract in Vietnam before Tim could even review the terms.Whether you’re a founder, a Technical Program Manager, or a leader navigating the AI transition, this is your blueprint for achieving massive leverage in the agentic era.In this episode, we cover:The "Rick" Incident: What happens when an agent handles legal affairs without human intervention?Solo-Unicorns: The data behind the 2026 trend where one person runs what used to take a team of 20.The Leverage Shift: Moving from "Doing" the work to "Directing" the agentic swarm.Revenue Systems: Why your CRM data is the silent killer of your AI strategy.📌 Timestamps:0:00 – The AI agent that signed a Vietnamese contract.4:15 – What exactly is an "Invisible Enterprise"?12:40 – Scaling to $1M ARR with zero employees.22:10 – The future of the "Wartime AI CEO."🔗 Resources & Connections:Connect with Tim Cortinovis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timcortinovis/Connect with Leena Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenaagarwal/#AgenticAI #SoloUnicorn #InvisibleEnterprise #AILeadership #VibeCoding #RevenueOperations #AgenticROI #StartupScale #AIGovernance

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