Experience

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  Israeli air force

  Jan 2006 - Jan 2012

  Head of product and innovation (machine learning, computer vision)

  • I was awarded 1st place in the Best Product Competition - a prestigious prize from IAF's CTO • I was an officer in a classified Drones and Intelligence Division, where I was responsible for innovation - to invent and improve embedded products and platforms.• I was an Innovation Advisor to the CTO, and developed strategic roadmap and opportunities to lead the organization towards growth (getting more customers and budget); I was a key decision-maker in areas such as build versus buy, vision etc.• Sought and found opportunities and jobs to be done in order to invent new products based on customer needs• Gathered functional requirements, prioritized and socialized product features, gained consensus and buy-in from C-level officers, both internally and externally (IAF’s main command), in order to develop critical products for the state of Israel• Conducted customer discovery to innovate from scratch and deliver in a timely fashion a new product that helps the Air Force save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and saves 20 minutes (and fuel) in every aircraft mission.• Managed a team of 3 and led the development of several complex and multidisciplinary products simultaneously with cross-functional teams: planned, scheduled, prioritized, built, tested, iterated, and shipped them successfully, offering post-delivery support and improvements.• Worked with clients; Traveled to customers’ sites; Managed demos; managed customer accounts/deal flow; prepared the proper documentation Show less

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  Microsoft

  Jan 2012 - Jan 2014

  Senior engineer - hololens (ar)

  I held a key role collaborated cross-disciplinary with different top-talent teams to develop 3D camera for Innovative HoloLens (AR - Augmented Reality)Advanced Imaging Technology group

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  Leadr software llc

  Jan 2015 - Jan 2017

  Head of product & co-founder - ai marketing , msft accelerator / won a flash pitch at disrupt sf

  [Mobile/Web, B2C, AI, $20B Market] LeadR was an AI (Voice, NLU, NLP) Marketplace/SaaS for SMBs, disrupting their digital marketing efforts in a bold new way, in a $20B industry• Solved a real business problem by inventing the “A method for detection and forwarding of needs in a conversation” patent. This patent, as a result of my ability to uncover “hidden” needs by profound observations and interviews, has been a hard implementation challenge and it demonstrates my passion to come up with the best possible and exceptional UX - the fastest flow in the industry that reduced time by from 30 seconds to 1-click. • Conducted market and industry trends research, SWOT analysis and research in the customer journey of the lead generation domain; Upon this, I was able to define a unique product which disrupts a ~$20B market and to stand out in a crowded and competitive landscape, due to deep knowledge in innovation and differentiation techniques• Defined product strategy, UX, features, algorithms, roadmap, go to market with marketing and BizDev, trade-offs with R&D and KPIs definitions and presented them to stakeholders • Led feature explorations with ideation sessions, customer interviews, MVP prototypes• As an evangelist, built consensus to establish a new company direction based on vision decks, customer feedback, and data• Optimized conversion funnels; Implemented a feature that enabled higher LTV/CAC ratio using deep knowledge in behavioral economics and hook-theory techniques • Created a very detailed, repeatable and scalable business plan in Excel, forecasting, analyzing and optimizing growth and other metrics based on market and customer research. Implemented features and further developed the product to improve it for the business needs, growth and retention and, most importantly, revenue generation; I also helped to define the market positioning Show less

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  Western digital

  Jan 2018 - Jan 2021

  Senior product manager @ western digital - the data company (sandisk bu)

  Western Digital Corporation (S&P 500) is a $23B deep-tech & global leader company, with 65,000 employees (2022)• Senior PM for an internal startup • My product won "Best In Show" in Embedded World 2019 - bestinshow.embedded-computing.com/shows/embedded-world-2019• Managing the development of the entire Automotive and Industrial portfolio (multiple products at parallel) for $multi-billion markets such as Autonomous cars, Drones, Smartwatches, IoT, AR/VR headset, game consoles, smart speakers (virtual assistants), and other emerging AI-based applications. • Defining and prioritizing features, according to customer needs, engineering efforts, regulations and customer LTV/ROI to achieve competitive advantage in such markets, e.g the automotive flash market alone is valued at a $2.5B market (to be more than $3B in 2021)• Helping to define APIs and digital products to customers to support HW products. • Participating in product roadmap decisions. • Creating marketing GTM (Go To Market) collateral and Technical collateral such as Product briefs, Application Notes, Datasheets, etc, to position and differentiate comparing to the competition; This is being read by fortune100 and 500 companies such as OEMs and Tier 1• Working with global (Europe, USA, India, Japan, China, Korea) cross-functional Inbound and Outbound teams, such as Sales, BDMs, Technical Marketing, Technical writers, Ecosystem, Quality Assurance, Engineering (Hardware, Software, Firmware, Algorithms, System), Reliability, Manufacturing etc; working closely with R&D teams• Communicating directly with leading OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, answering technical questions and RFIs• Participating and managing meetings with executives and driving decision making• Creating training collateral and training sales, marketing, and FAEs (Field Application Engineers).• Crisis Management including initiating Task Force, delegating tasks, preparing communication collateral documents for affected customers Show less

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  Kla

  Jan 2021 - Jan 2023

  Head of ai product and marketing (ai saas , fleet solutions bu) @ kla ($110b deep-tech company)

  KLA Corporation (S&P 500) is an $120B, deep-tech & global leader company, with 14,000 employees and $10B revenue - Leadership - Head of Product and Marketing of an internal startup (0 to 1) within a large enterprise, operating on a global scale, encompassing USA, China, Taiwan, and Japan, with both outbound and inbound responsibilities. Playing a pivotal role in creating and accelerating ideas in their earliest stages- Leveraging my deep understanding of both business/marketing strategies and complex technical aspects, I am pioneering the strategic development and marketing of an innovative, enterprise-grade AI SaaS solution.- Business and marketing: Conceiving a comprehensive business plan, directing go-to-market strategies to realize the outlined objectives, and devising persuasive product messaging and positioning. Working directly with customers and design partners. Crafting SOW- Technical: leveraging my expertise in AI and ML algorithms, computer vision, hardware, cameras, and electro-optics, among others.- Outbound strategy product management: Crafting the strategy and roadmap. Establishing direct and meaningful connections with clients on a global scale, to comprehend their unique needs, leading to the design of innovative solutions that ensure market share growth or retention. - Building rapport and operating cross-functional teams such as Executives, Sales, Finance, UX, Product management, Program management, Software, Advanced Algorithms (specializing in Deep Learning and Computer Vision), Customer Success, and other teams, enhancing overall organizational synergy. Show less

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  Assaf laufer

  Jan 2024 - now

  Strategy (pmf, marketing, product, business, innovation)