Ariel Pérez

Product & Engineering Leader | Systems Thinker

I build high-performing, adaptive, deeply collaborative product & engineering organizations that deliver exceptional value at high velocity. With 20+ years across startups, scale-ups, and Fortune 50s, I bridge product and technology to drive growth—accelerating release cadence, cutting lead times, creating products that matter, and saving millions in operational costs. I lead through systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and AI-enabled innovation, building adaptive teams that scale and thrive together.

Let's start a conversationDownload resume

What I excel at

I transform organizations by building adaptive systems that scale faster than market changes. Whether you're struggling with slow decision-making, siloed teams, or technology that's become a bottleneck, I help you create high-performing, collaborative environments that deliver exceptional value at unprecedented velocity.

Experience

20+ years learning that slow product and engineering teams aren't slow because of bad developers or old technology. They're slow because their systems make collaboration hard and individual heroics necessary. When you redesign the human systems around how people connect, communicate, and make decisions together, the technical problems solve themselves.

History

Technology & Product Strategy Lead

Hightekers
Mar 2026 - Present

Embedded product and technology leadership for enterprise clients in consulting and technology.

Head of Product & Technology

Tinybird
Nov 2024 - Nov 2025

Building data infrastructure and tooling for developers and agents.

Field CTO

Tinybird
July 2024 - Nov 2025

Field CTO working with customers, prospects, and partners across the world, internal teams (sales, engineering, product, marketing, developer relations), and public relations (industry analysts, press).

VP of Engineering - Measurement & Learning

Split Software (acquired by Harness)
2022 - 2024

Transformed product & engineering culture achieving 6x product releases and 10x deployment frequency while saving $1.2M annually

Head of Digital and Communications Platforms, Head of Marketing Technology

JP Morgan Chase - Chase International Consumer Bank (Chase UK)
2019 - 2022

Built mobile-first, cloud-native digital banking from scratch while learning regulation drives innovation

Head of Product & Engineering - Dark Canary, Head of Core Web Engineering and Solution Architecture

JP Morgan Chase - Chase Digital (Chase Online/Chase Mobile)
2017 - 2019

Built JPMC's first feature-flagging platform enabling 1,200+ concurrent releases to 65M+ users while optimizing core systems for 4.25-second performance gains.

...

Prior Roles

Various Companies
2003 - 2017

MSCLVR (CTO/Co-founder), Try the World (CTO), Birchbox (Senior Engineer), JP Morgan Wealth Management (Engineering Lead) - Customer obsession beats technical perfection

Built across

Financial ServicesDeveloper ToolsE-CommerceAI/ML PlatformsReal-time AnalyticsFeature Management & ExperimentationFinTechAdTechMarTechStartupsScale-upsFortune 50
Download Resume

Media and publications

Sharing insights on adaptive leadership, organizational transformation, and product & engineering across various platforms

Video
Beyond the Code

Unlocking Engineering Productivity with Ariel Pérez & Cesar Rodriguez

In the second session of the 'Unlocking Engineering Productivity' webinar by Typo, host Kovid Batra engages engineering leaders Cesar Rodriguez and Ariel Pérez in a conversation about building high-performing development teams.

2025-01-23Watch

Also available on:

Video
The Mob Mentality Show

Complex Adaptive Organizations, Org Topologies, and FAST Agile with Ariel Pérez

Chris Lucian and Austin Chadwick discuss all things agile and product development from a MobProgramming perspective. Exploring the fascinating intersection of Complex Adaptive Organizations, Organizational Topologies, and the FAST Agile Framework.

2024-12-17Watch

Also available on:

Video
groCTO Originals

Tackling Communication Gaps in Cross-functional Teams

Welcome to episode #35 of the 'groCTO Originals' podcast. Ariel Pérez, VP of Engineering at Split, shares insights on creating an environment for success and enabling cross-functional teams to establish the right context.

2024-05-01Watch

Also available on:

Video
LeadDev

Fostering a culture of experimentation in your engineering teams

How can engineering leaders help their reports find joy in their work?

2023-10-25Watch
Video
Dev Interrupted

Reimagining DORA Metrics & Leveraging Feature Flags with Split

Does the emergence of feature flags affect the interpretation and utility of DORA metrics? Dan Lines and Ariel Perez, VP of Engineering at Split.io, discuss the state of DORA metrics and whether they need reimaging in a world of feature flags.

2023-07-11Watch

Also available on:

Video
TechExcellence

Engineering Leaders: Creating a culture of Tech Excellence

In this meetup I'll be talking about the role of leaders and the difference between leaders and managers. How leaders can put people first to identify the most important areas to focus on to build trust, create motivation, and deepen engagement.

2022-11-16Watch
View all media

Latest from my blog

Exploring adaptive leadership and organizational design at The Adaptive Alchemist

Your next hour of thinking has to earn itself hero
November 2026•7 min read

Your next hour of thinking has to earn itself

You don't need to know when you're done thinking. You need to know whether another hour is still worth buying.

Read more
The problem with needing everything to make sense hero
October 2026•6 min read

The problem with needing everything to make sense

The instinct that lets you see how a large system fits together is the same instinct that keeps you investigating long after it stops paying. The fix is to depend less on being right in advance, not to think less.

Read more
AI assistance creates capability deficits hero
March 2026•8 min read

AI assistance creates capability deficits

Is AI accelerating your output or your ignorance? New research shows AI-assisted learning can lead to 17% lower comprehension scores. Build real expertise via "load-bearing friction" before you outsource your judgment.

Read more
Read all posts

Working with me

I work with companies that need experienced product and technology leadership without necessarily hiring another permanent executive. Whether through advisory and fractional CTO/CPTO work, speaking, or writing collaborations, I'm always excited to share insights and work together on challenging problems.

Advisory & fractional leadership

I specialize in helping companies build systems that adapt faster than market changes — through adaptive leadership, cross-functional velocity, and strategic product & technology alignment.

My approach is hands-on: reviewing architecture, redesigning team structures, and embedding in strategy and planning alongside executive teams.

Interested in working with me in a fractional CTO/CPTO or advisory capacity? Reach out to Adaptive Alchemy LLC at inquiries@adaptivealchemy.io.

Speaking & collaboration

I'm passionate about sharing insights on adaptive leadership, organizational transformation, and the intersection of technology and human systems. Let's explore opportunities to collaborate, share knowledge, and push the boundaries of what's possible.

Please reach out for:

  • Speaking engagements and media appearances
  • Writing collaborations and guest posts
  • Direct professional networking
  • Full-time role opportunities (for compelling fits)

Want to work with me?

The best conversations start with curiosity about what could be different. Whether your team is stuck in coordination overhead, your product and engineering groups aren't aligned, or you're wondering if there's a better way to organize for growth, I'd love to explore what might be possible. Advisory and fractional leadership inquiries go through Adaptive Alchemy; speaking, writing, and other conversations can come to me directly.

Advisory & fractional inquiriesSpeaking, writing & other