In Season 3 of Productside Stories, we sat down with Guy Gershoni, Head of Engineering at genesIT, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to build great products in today’s complex tech environments. With over two decades in engineering and a career shaped by deep partnerships with product leaders, Guy brought a clear-eyed perspective to the table—one that’s grounded in pragmatism, experimentation, and mutual respect.
Why Product and Engineering Collaboration Still Fails
Too often, the relationship between product and engineering feels more like a standoff than a partnership. Product managers push for roadmaps. Engineers push back with technical constraints. Somewhere in the middle, customer needs get lost in translation.
Guy doesn’t sugarcoat this dynamic. In fact, he says the root problem isn’t a lack of desire to collaborate—it’s a mismatch of incentives, language, and expectations.
“There’s this misconception that engineers just want to build cool stuff and don’t care about what they build. But that’s not true. Engineers are more excited when they know what they’re building matters.”
What engineers want, he explains, is clarity. Clear goals. Clear feedback loops. And a clear connection between their work and the business outcome it supports.
Product managers who understand this—and who show up prepared to share data, context, and measurable outcomes—earn credibility. And with that credibility, comes collaboration. Effective product and engineeering collaboration depends on that clarity, and on both sides showing up ready to learn from each other.
The PM Role: Strategic, Not Administrative
In one of the most eye-opening moments of the episode, Guy shares how an internal platform team once assumed they didn’t need product management. They thought their work spoke for itself—until a listening tour revealed how disconnected they were from their customers.
“They thought other teams appreciated them. But the moment we had direct conversations, we found a lot of frustration. That gap needed a full-time product manager to bridge it.”
This is where Guy pushes back against the idea that engineering can—or should—replace product management. Yes, engineers are deeply skilled. But PMs bring something different: systems thinking, long-term vision, and the ability to synthesize inputs from across the business.
In Guy’s words, “It’s a full-time job to understand what good looks like—and to help the team see it too.”
When product and engineering collaboration is strong, these roles don’t compete but amplify each other.
The Power of Influence Over Authority
Another myth Guy breaks down is the idea that product managers need positional power to lead effectively. In reality, the best PMs lead with influence, not title.
“If you walk in and try to boss people around without having authority, it won’t work. But if you can tell a compelling story and get engineers excited, that’s how you lead.”
It’s this blend of storytelling, context-sharing, and empathy that separates tactical PMs from strategic ones. And as Guy points out, it’s exactly what modern teams need—especially as they navigate trade-offs, resource constraints, and constant change.
Building a Culture of Experimentation
When it comes to building the right things—not just building things right—Guy is a huge advocate for experimentation. But don’t expect a rigid framework.
Instead, he leans into a mindset: start small, define the impact you want to see, and be willing to kill your darlings.
“We used a framework called KID—Keep, Iterate, Delete. If it didn’t move the needle on the outcome, we let it go.”
This approach isn’t limited to product features. Guy applies it to team structure, workflows, and even workplace policies. The key is staying objective and being willing to disprove your own hypotheses.
As he puts it, “We know that we don’t know. That’s why we test.”
Advice for Engineers (and PMs)
One of the most powerful takeaways from the episode is Guy’s advice for engineers who are struggling to work with product:
“Once you’ve mastered how to build it right, you have to learn how to build the right thing.”
This shift requires humility. It means stepping into the customer’s shoes, learning the business context, and seeing product as a partner—not a blocker.
And for PMs? Guy’s advice is simple but sharp: show up prepared, speak your team’s language, and always, always tie your work to outcomes.
Product and Engineering Collaboration Is a Skill, Not a Given
The best product teams aren’t just shipping fast—they’re aligned. From shared metrics to outcome-driven experimentation, real innovation starts with better collaboration.
If this post hit close to home, here’s where to go next:
- Listen to our podcast episode with Guy Gershoni for an inside look at what strong product and engineering collaboration really looks like.
- Explore our Optimal Product Management course to build the leadership skills, communication habits, and strategic mindset that modern PMs need to lead across functions.
- Download our Product Leader First 90 Days Template Pack to define your team’s values, vision, and KPIs—and create alignment from day one.
Are your teams building together or building in silos? What’s your take? Join the conversation and share your thoughts with us on LinkedIn.