Product Judgment From Someone Who Still Builds
15 years writing production code. 8 years leading product, most recently as Director of Product at Skykit. Currently building two AI products of my own.
The Work
Two highlights from a longer track record.
Repackaging Skykit Without Losing a Dollar
Competitors were bundling real-time dashboards into their base tiers. We were charging extra for ours, and prospects kept asking why. I led a repackaging that moved dashboards into existing tiers, worked with finance and sales to model every customer cohort, and sequenced the rollout to each customer's renewal date instead of the calendar.
Zero ARR churn through the full transition. 2% revenue lift and a 10%+ drop in average discount per sale within the first two months.
The win wasn't picking a new price. It was protecting renewal revenue while the change rolled through every account.
Pricing an AI Product Without Bleeding Margin
I'm building Quin in beta right now, an AI quoting tool for A/V integrators. Before setting a price, I built a token usage tracker, modeled cost per quote, and tested model variability across the workload. Turns out older, cheaper models handle most quotes within tolerance. Reserving the premium model for the edge cases that actually need it cut inference cost by roughly 45%.
I know the cost of a quote, the cost per customer at every tier, and the margin at every price point I'm considering. The pricing model itself is hybrid: base subscription plus usage thresholds for power users.
Most founders price first and learn their unit economics later. I'd rather flip that order.
Two Ways To Work With Me
Pick the door that fits the decision you're making.
For operators
Fractional Head of Product
For founders and product leaders who need embedded product strategy and a modern, AI-native PM operation. I run product for B2B SaaS companies at seed to Series. Roadmap, prioritization, GTM alignment, and team coaching, with a specific focus on building the new-age PM function: AI-native workflows, leverage tooling, and the operating system your product team should be running in 2026.
Explore Fractional EngagementsFor builders, investors, and operators
Build Partner
For founders building with AI tools, and for investors and operators evaluating builds, acquisitions, or build-vs-buy calls. A second set of eyes from someone who ships production code and runs a product org. Audits and reviews of AI-built apps for non-technical founders. Product and technical diligence for VCs evaluating opportunities. Scoped reviews for operators weighing build-vs-buy.
Explore Build Partner ServicesAbout
Most consultants in this space sit on one side of a line. Engineers can audit code but can't read a roadmap. Product consultants can run discovery but can't tell you whether the architecture will survive real scale.
I've spent 23 years on both sides. 15 years writing production code, 8 years leading product. Most recently I ran product at Skykit, shipping enterprise SaaS and hardware to real customers, driving pricing strategy, evolving a hardware line and its supply chain in China, and running build-vs-buy calls on internal tooling. I'm also actively building two AI products of my own, which means I audit AI-generated code, model token economics, and ship product decisions every day.
I translate technical problems into business decisions, and business decisions into technical tradeoffs.
Building something greenfield?
For greenfield product opportunities, founding-team partnerships, or new-product collaborations, I work through Z12 Ventures, my product studio.
Let's talk.
The fastest way to figure out if I can help is a short call. No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation about what you're working on.
Or email me directly at hello@zakikhan.me