Providing organisations under heavy regulatory scrutiny with the tools they need to get a full, compliant view of product health and performance, Skyjed is on a mission to improve the world of finance...
Providing organisations under heavy regulatory scrutiny with the tools they need to get a full, compliant view of product health and performance, Skyjed is on a mission to improve the world of finance with its next-gen, AI-driven platform. We spoke to Leica Ison, Founder and CEO of Skyjed, to discuss the company’s vision and the need for the finance sector to adopt a smarter, more comprehensive approach to product lifecycle governance.
So, Leica. What inspired you to found Skyjed? And how did your background in corporate product leadership shape the vision?
I spent more than 20 years of my career watching C-suite executives scramble, as just one new product feature or change sent the organisations they managed into complete chaos. These leaders did not plan for the knock-on impact that these seemingly small, isolated actions could have on everything from the firm’s processes and tech stack to compliance and communications. This inhibited organisational progress, with blind spots only exacerbated by the fact that teams continued working in silos, leaving them incapable of making the connected product decisions needed for change to run smoothly and for the company to advance.
I wanted to prevent this reality from draining the real value of product innovation. So, I began interviewing over 100 executives across the US and Europe to gain deeper understanding of the problem. I needed to know why they continued to approach product trust and lifecycle governance as an afterthought rather than seeing it as the key part of strategy that it truly is. My research showed that talented leaders were in fact making suboptimal decisions, simply because they lacked the unified view of the whole lifecycle that they needed.
Traditional governance tools were failing them, because they were built for simpler times – not today’s interconnected, regulated product reality. So, I created a more appropriate ‘lifecycle governance operating system’ in response – a platform that brings all functional teams together. My personal passions and frustrations turned Skyjed into market validation based on those initial executive conversations.
Why is product governance gaining traction now, particularly in regulated sectors?
Companies are facing high levels of economic uncertainty at the moment – and they’re also dealing with unprecedented levels of tech disruption. This volatility and lack of certainty can limit board confidence when it comes to making bold business decisions, particularly as they’re keen to avoid both reputational damage and fines.
As regulatory complexity continues to explode, with new AI regulations, consumer duties, ESG responsibilities and data privacy rules being introduced all the time, governance-related risk continually increases. So, companies can lo longer afford to deal with the various aspects of product change, such as compliance, customer experience, and tech infrastructure separately.
Every single product change needs to form part of critical business decisions to overcome problems. C-suite executives must move away from the silos they have historically worked in, adopting a more integrated approach to the full product lifecycle where lifecycle governance is seen as a competitive advantage, in order to achieve modern-day success.
How does strong product governance help financial institutions to manage risk and remain compliant?
Organisations have traditionally approached product governance as an afterthought, seeing compliance as a hurdle rather than something they can use to their advantage. Our approach is the opposite, embedding product trust into each and every business decision from day one. The dynamic risk assessments and real-time lifecycle monitoring provided through Skyjed help executives to understand how product changes can ripple through the entire organisation, giving them real-world visibility that allows them to remain agile and proactive – rather than scrambling for an appropriate response to unforeseen challenges at the last minute. This is much more effective and informative for those making business decisions than the quarterly fire drills used prior to Skyjed.
Our platform’s insights allow for smart risk taking, where leaders know exactly what they’re changing and why – without being surprised by the consequences. Ultimately, we turn regulatory requirements into strategic guardrails that actually guide innovation, rather than holding it back, by giving key people the confidence to move competitively fast – at pace with the market – because Skyjed’s data has reassured them that they’re also moving safely.
How is AI transforming financial organisations’ approach to decision-making and accountability?
Critics might claim that AI is just another tech-tool trend, but it’s actually changing the way in which core decisions are made across the entire product lifecycle. It’s also changing the way businesses are structured – and it’s doing so quickly.
AI can process datasets that are too large for human teams to work with – and it can recognise patterns, risks and opportunities within that data almost instantaneously. Whilst human input is still needed, this makes managing complex product ecosystems much easier, protecting companies from mistakes and oversights. Indeed, AI can also see regulatory issues before they become problems, protecting reputations while saving firms significant costs.
Significant time can also be saved through AI-driven features like automated reporting. These reports, which replace raw data with a real story that can be turned into usable strategy, can be generated in just a fraction of the time it would take to produce them manually, freeing up human team members for more creative, value-adding tasks. Think of AI like real-time decision support for boards and C-suite, with no more waiting for clunky, quarterly PowerPoint decks and presentations. This breeds accountability through transparency, too, allowing everyone to see just how decisions impact the bigger picture.
How do you balance rapid innovation with governance demands in regulated industries?
Innovation vs product governance is a false choice. The best companies make them mutually reinforcing.
My advice would be to build confidence, because, when you trust your lifecycle governance framework, you can achieve this symbiosis much faster, driving speedier progress. The strategic allocation of capital also helps, so, leaders must rely on the tools and insights available to them to determine where they need discipline and where they can take smart risks. Skyjed enables firms to test and learn this within defined guardrails, also encouraging greater collaboration across teams as insights replace a siloed mindset, allowing companies to achieve success in both rapid innovation and robust governance by fostering a more holistic product lifecycle approach.
What advice would you give to banks looking to embed smarter product governance?
Start with C-suite alignment. Lifecycle governance only works if leaders model integrated thinking.
After that, my advice would be – don’t build from scratch. There are plenty of proven lifecycle governance frameworks out there, which you can deploy in a matter of weeks, versus the years it would take to start out on your own. Skyjed offers a really useful blueprint, which can be used to generate quick wins and build momentum, allowing leaders to demonstrate value within the first 90 days.
Focussing on lifecycle view is also important. All functional teams need to be able to see the bigger strategic picture, without being stalled by silos. This visibility allows them to make vital connections between products and customer comms, customer journeys and business processes and controls, for instance – all things that can have a major impact on the business.
Finally, make sure you make trust a core principle, rather than treating it as a compliance checkbox. When trust and governance are embedded in company strategy, they drive significant value, so dashboards that display meaningful insights rather than mere status updates are key.
Finally, what is your vision for Skyjed’s impact in the financial sector? What growth opportunities are on the horizon?
My ultimate goal is for all financial institutions to operate with true lifecycle governance as their competitive advantage.
The superior lifecycle governance provided through Skyjed puts us in a position of potential significant growth. The platform not only aligns business actions with goals but also reduces cost and makes operations more efficient. With our AI-driven product assessments, real-time regulatory adaptation capabilities, and cross-functional decision support added to that, there are real opportunities and growth areas ahead – both for Skyjed and the clients it serves.
The future requires a product team mindset, where business growth happens through better operations – not just better products. That’s where lifecycle governance helps the most.
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