Bringing an acquired AI product into the platform
We folded a newly acquired AI tool into a global CX platform, moving users off legacy workflows without losing features. 18 people, 11 months, shipped on time.
Overview
The company acquired a strategic AI Analytics Tool.
The problem
Only selected features from the acquired product needed to be integrated into our core platform, on a tight timeline. The PM and lead engineers, coming from the acquired company, were unfamiliar with our development workflow, cross-team dependencies, and release planning practices, creating onboarding and alignment challenges early in the project.
Challenges
Lack of strategic ownership
The primary challenge was bridging the gap between two different development cadences. My role focused on establishing clear ownership frameworks and harmonizing our workflows to ensure the MVP delivery stayed on track without stifling the acquired team's agility.
Ambiguous ownership
Due to the acquisition timeline, it wasn't clear which product managers or engineers were responsible for which parts. We were building a new workstream from scratch, with overlapping roles.
Unclear decision-making path
We needed timely decisions on MVP scope, but it was unclear who held that authority, which caused delays in prioritization and alignment.
Operational integration across teams
Our internal teams had to adapt quickly to collaborating with a newly acquired team operating from a different timezone, with no prior exposure to our processes or culture.
What I did
- Sorted out who owned what. With overlapping roles from two companies, I proposed clear owners per workstream and a single path for MVP scope decisions.
- Bridged two different ways of working: our release planning and dependencies on one side, the acquired team's speed on the other. On our side, we shared release dates and dependencies earlier. On theirs, the team began planning against our release cycle without losing its speed.
- Worked with a team in a different time zone, with a rhythm of shared meetings in the overlapping hours and async updates the rest of the time.
- Kept core feature parity for existing users while moving them off legacy workflows.
Result
We shipped the MVP on time with no loss of key functionality. More than 51 customers were impacted, and more than 100 designers use the approach to this day. Team: 18 people over 11 months.
What I learned
Stakeholder management was the hardest part: aligning a lot of minds while sitting in the middle of an acquisition. Bringing accessibility in early paid off too. Clear owners and a single decision path did more for trust than any extra meeting.