Headline

CEO & ED KAST| Coach & Consultant | Past President @ Product Calgary | Community Builder

About

I work at the intersection of Product, People, and Place. As the Executive Director of KAST (Kootenay Association for Science & Technology), I lead initiatives that support entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small businesses across rural British Columbia, helping them navigate digital transformation, adopt AI responsibly, and build sustainable, community-driven innovation ecosystems. Alongside this, I work as a Product Coach & Consultant, partnering with organizations to turn complexity into clarity, whether that’s launching new products, transforming teams, or rethinking how value is created. With 20+ years across banking and automation software, I’ve led large-scale agile transformations, built product capabilities from the ground up, and coached 100+ product professionals. But more importantly, I’ve learned this: Technology doesn’t create impact. People do. What I care about: • Bridging the gap between technology and real human needs • Helping rural and under-resourced communities access innovation • Creating space for deep thinking, not just fast execution • Building products and ecosystems that actually matter How I support teams and organizations: • Product strategy, roadmaps, and go-to-market clarity • Agile ways of working and team transformation • AI literacy, policy development, and responsible adoption • Coaching leaders and product teams to perform at their best Currently building at KAST: • Venture acceleration programs supporting early-stage founders • AI education and policy frameworks for nonprofits and businesses • Community-driven tech events, founder networks, and learning spaces • A more inclusive, connected innovation ecosystem across the Kootenays

Location

Canada

Work experience

Executive Director at KAST, Apr 2025 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos, Hybrid, Engagement: Foster strong Board and Stakeholder relationships through clear communication and collaborative strategic planning. Human Resources: Lead strategic initiatives in talent acquisition, development, and performance management. Project Development: Drive projects from opportunity identification and resource securing to on-time, on-budget completion with measurable results. Financial & Operations: Maintain integrity by overseeing budgeting, reporting, and ensuring compliance with Canadian regulations. Communications: Direct strategies to elevate organizational visibility and impact in the technology and science sectors.

Product Coach and Consultant at Priya Biswas coaching and consulting, Jan 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 6 mos, Canada, Are you struggling to navigate a product transformation without the resources of a tech giant? You're not alone! Over the past 16 years, I've spearheaded successful digital transformations at GE Digital and ATB Financial. I've tackled the real-world challenges of integrating new product models with existing structures. That's why I help mid-sized companies bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern Product Operating models. By combining my expertise in Product and Agile, I equip product leaders with the tools and confidence to navigate this transformation journey. Ready to spark product greatness on Your transformation journey? Let's chat about your challenges and how I can help. https://calendly.com/priya_biswas/30min?month=2024-03

President at Product Calgary, Aug 2023 - Sep 2025 · 2 yrs 2 mos, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, President of the Board for Product Calgary. Product Calgary is a professional non-profit organization of over 300 members for Product Managers to connect, learn, and find new opportunities. Specific Accountabilities: -Stewardship of the strategy, i.e., mission, vision, and strategic objectives -Performance of the Board and its individual Directors -Development of Board meeting and General Meeting schedules and agendas and presiding over all Board meetings and General Meetings -Pursuing and developing alliances with other organizations, agencies, businesses, and individuals to further Product Calgary's purpose and strategic objectives - Helping facilitate and organize monthly member events

Director| CoE BA, Change Management, Agile and Product Management at ATB Financial, Nov 2022 - Jul 2023 · 9 mos, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: The organization faced challenges due to the lack of consistent practices and processes across key capabilities, hindering the timely delivery of value on over 80 projects with an annual budget of 140 Million. Additionally, heavy reliance on contingent workers for project delivery resulted in increased costs and higher risks. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝑬𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔: Built robust and consistent practices and processes to ensure reliable delivery across all projects. By streamlining workflows and standardizing methodologies, we enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 Recognized the significance of cultivating internal talent. Through a talent and training strategy, we nurtured and advanced our employees' skills, reducing dependence on contingent workers while fostering a pool of competent and reliable team members. 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝑻𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉 Built a roadmap envisioning the long-term growth of all capabilities and aligning them with organizational goals. This will enable us to support multiple projects consistently and sustainably. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕: Consistent practices and processes significantly decreased the time, effort, and costs associated with intake, onboarding, project support, and sustainment. This efficiency gains optimized resource allocation and budget utilization for each project. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍-𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒆𝒔: By strategically developing internal talent, we reduced the dependency on contractors, transforming the project team composition from 75% contingent workers to 25%. This shift not only cut costs by over 30% but also strengthened our internal capabilities and enhanced project delivery.

Director| Product Management Practice and coaching at ATB Financial, Oct 2020 - Nov 2022 · 2 yrs 2 mos, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: The organization faced challenges in transitioning from stakeholder-driven projects and feature teams to empowered product teams capable of solving problems through effective product discovery and delivery. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝑬𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔: Established best practices in Product Management and fostered valuable partnerships with industry Product leaders, like Melissa Perri, Denise Tilles, and 280 Group. Learning from the expertise of these leaders helped us refine our approach and strategies. 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆: Created a thriving product community of practice that encouraged knowledge sharing and facilitated the growth and maturity of our organization's Product Practice. This collaborative environment fostered innovation and continuous improvement. 𝑨𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎: A comprehensive Associate Product Management training program was designed and delivered to build internal talent and enhance product capabilities. 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: Product Leaders and Managers were provided with personalized coaching, empowering them to navigate the necessary mindset and cultural changes for building and maturing their teams around product portfolios. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Coaching Product Leaders played a pivotal role in effecting mindset and cultural changes. This resulted in a successful transformation from a feature-team-based company to empowered product teams capable of delivering valuable solutions. Through the Associate Product Management training program, we not only developed internal talent but also achieved an impressive 60% conversion rate of participants transitioning to Product roles. This demonstrated the effectiveness of our training efforts.

Director | Enterprise Agile Coach at ATB Financial, Feb 2019 - Oct 2020 · 1 yr 9 mos, Edmonton, Canada Area, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦: The organization faced challenges in transitioning from a traditional waterfall delivery model to a value-driven and iterative Agile delivery model. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Developed an enterprise Agile transformation strategy, assessment, governance, and maturity model. Conducted Agile Bootcamps for over 700 team members and leaders to ensure a consistent understanding of Agile principles and practices. Implemented a coaching strategy and successfully coached multiple Agile teams across various programs. Introduced Agile-specific metrics and measurement standards throughout the portfolio. Collaborated with Agile Coaches to enhance maturity and effectiveness in applying Agile methodologies organization-wide. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Trained over 700 team members through 3-day Agile Bootcamps, ensuring widespread adoption of Agile ways of working. Gartner's Assessment in October 2015 rated ATB's Digital Maturity for Agile initiative ahead of the leading peer average, indicating substantial progress in Agile at Scale transformation. Successfully contributed to the delivery of three key programs at ATB of over 50M: Rebuilding the Retail Banking platform, Business Banking platform, and internal team member tools through Agile coaching and support.

Senior Technical Product Manager at GE Digital, Feb 2015 - Dec 2016 · 1 yr 11 mos, Edmonton, Canada Area, •Interacted with customers and stakeholders in Voice of the Customer requirement gathering, fine-tuned them and continuously integrated the product feedback into the development cycle. •Built product personas and user journeys based on interviews with the customers and stakeholders. Walked through the personas and journeys with cross-functional teams to ensure common understanding and direction for the product. •Worked with 2-3 cross-functional teams at a time, to successfully deliver features and product releases at the end of each quarter. •Had a deep understanding of the technology stack and impacting the final product direction. •Routinely worked very closely with our design teams to make user experience decisions. Demoed the user mockups and user journeys with our stakeholders and customers, in order to get feedback. •Continuously worked towards persuading and influencing the alignment between customers, commercial product managers and Engineering teams. •Translated unstructured requirements into actionable user stories and work units to be worked on by the development team. •Kept the backlog groomed and prioritized to ensure that 1-2 sprints backlog stories are always ready to be executed by the team. •Worked with the commercial product team and customers to align priorities, project go live dates, product directions, for each quarterly planning. •Reported out at the end of each quarterly planning to the entire manufacturing team the outcome of what features and stories will be delivered at the end of the quarter. •Regularly had exciting and applicable sprint demos for customers and all the stakeholders. Influenced other teams to have similar impactful demos. •Monitored KPI’s and did weekly update to the Senior Software Director.

Education

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), General Studies, University of Alberta

Bachelor's degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Pune university