With more than a decade of experience as a product manager and solution architect, Nalini Priya Uppari has led cloud digital transformation and data migration initiatives that have delivered over $1 million in monthly revenue savings for major banks. As a Jira Product Manager, she guided an agile transformation for 50,000 users and aligned over 50 stakeholders to streamline project management workflows, cutting project lead times by 30%, reducing manual testing efforts by 40%, and boosting cross-team collaboration by 25%. In this conversation, we explore her journey into agile product management and what first drew her to the field.
Can you walk us through your journey into agile product management and what first drew you to this field?
My journey into agile product management started with a passion for solving the challenging requirements from the business stakeholders and adding business value and productivity by delivering products with high quality and zero defects. Early in my career, I worked on the “Send Money with Zelle” project, which successfully delivered the feature, aligning business goals and benefiting the financial sector. That realization was a turning point in my career, which drew me to focus on continuous improvements, creativity, and cross-functional teams. It was challenging and gratifying to build the products, bringing the customer’s business strategy into action by bridging the gap between execution and vision, between design and technology. My expertise in agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Kanban, and Lean, has made me a trusted advisor in guiding the company through its agile transformation. My ability to understand the intricacies of agile frameworks allowed me to tailor Jira to meet the unique needs of Scrum teams, helping them collaborate more efficiently and execute projects more effectively. This deep expertise in both agile methodologies and project management frameworks sets me apart as a leader in the field.
Nalini Priya Uppari
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in implementing agile methodologies at scale, and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge in implementing the agile methodologies was meeting the timelines to deliver the product in a two-week sprint. The requirements from stakeholders were not precise, and we had a story creep to evaluate the requirements that align with the project goals. It was challenging to trace the requirement from conception to design, implementation, and testing. The reason the requirement is included matters for verifying the implementation of each requirement and for easier modifications. Other challenges I’ve encountered are aligning cross-teams to adapt to new AI technology. We introduced the sprint planning and invested in a build tool to manage the dependencies. I addressed key challenges by ensuring that the system is both efficient and user-friendly across the organization.
How did you approach aligning different teams and stakeholders around a unified agile vision?
As the Jira Product Manager, I was tasked with leading the design, implementation, and optimization of the Jira platform, ensuring its effective adoption across diverse teams and functions. I led a cross-functional team of over 50 stakeholders and 50,000 Jira users spanning engineering, marketing, and product management. My leadership included defining the platform’s strategic roadmap, designing workflows tailored to each department’s unique needs, and ensuring seamless integration and Automation of regression test scripts with existing systems. Aligning the cross teams started with a clear vision and a strategic framework to improve performance. Cross-functional teams adapted to new technologies, such as migrating to the Google Cloud, machine learning, generative AI, and building large language models.. We introduced training to the teams to accelerate innovation. I aligned the team and engaged stakeholders through all hands meetings, planning sessions, retrospectives, office hours and workshops. This fostered a culture of agility, responsiveness, and collaboration that directly boosted efficiency and sparked innovation.
In your experience, what are the key elements to building workflows that remain both scalable and adaptable over time?
To address the complexity of configuration, I had to streamline workflows and standardize templates, making Jira easier to maintain and scale. Performance issues are addressed by optimizing Jira’s setup, conducting regular database maintenance, and ensuring that the infrastructure is scaled to meet the business’s growing demands. As a product manager, I created clear and simple permission schemes, regularly audited user access, and enforced security protocols to maintain a safe and efficient environment. I also streamlined customization by limiting unnecessary custom fields and workflows, ensuring consistency and ease of use across teams. Finally, I oversaw regular updates, tested new versions in staging environments, and ensured backup protocols were in place to avoid issues during system upgrades. By addressing these challenges, Nalini ensures that Jira remains a powerful, adaptable tool, driving both operational efficiency and organizational success.
How do you balance maintaining operational efficiency with driving continuous innovation in large, complex systems?
A product manager should aim to operate efficiently and meet the increasing demands of AI technology in the financial industry. My efforts led to Jira’s evolution; the company would risk losing its competitive edge. I have driven a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring that the platform evolves to meet the organization’s needs.
Working in the project management system and having a deep understanding of both the tool and its strategic importance has been critical in ensuring that it remains a practical and indispensable resource. I developed and executed a phased rollout plan for Jira across Citigroup’s business units. I spearheaded customizing Jira workflows to align with the specific operational requirements of each department, while maintaining overall consistency. My strategic decisions yielded significant outcomes, including a 30% reduction in project lead times, a 40% reduction in Manual testing, and a 25% increase in cross-team collaboration efficiency. These achievements stemmed from my ability to identify bottlenecks, implement corrective measures, and communicate progress effectively to senior leadership.
What role does collaboration play in your product management style, and how do you foster that across teams?
My work has mitigated potential risks, such as misalignment between teams, scalability challenges, and process breakdowns. I proactively addressed issues and found solutions to keep teams aligned, reduce friction, and ensure the smooth delivery of key projects. The ability to understand the intricacies of these frameworks allowed me to tailor Jira to meet the unique needs of Citigroup’s teams, helping them collaborate more efficiently and execute projects better. This deep expertise in both agile methodologies and project management frameworks sets me apart as a leader in the field. Beyond managing the tool itself, I played a pivotal role in shaping the agile culture within Citigroup. I was a key advocate for fostering a culture of agility, helping teams adopt and optimize agile practices across the organization. I provided training, guidance, and support, enabling teams to make smoother transitions to agile ways of working, improving overall team performance and collaboration.
Looking back, what part of your work are you most proud of in terms of lasting impact on team culture or system performance?
I am proud of leading the team’s implementation of tracking tools and building the product strategy, planning, and continuous improvement by standardizing backlogs and ensuring clear visibility of requirements from stakeholders.
I took the initiative to design the requirements intake process and implemented the standard Jira workflow to reflect agile practices better and align cross-team efforts. I also introduced the structured roadmap, which integrated with the dashboard, giving both senior management and the leadership team a real-time, actionable view of progress and project goals and priorities. These initiatives improved team performance and had the most lasting impact on the team’s cultural shift to work collaboratively and proactively engage in backlog grooming, taking responsibility, accountability, and ownership to reach project goals successfully. My work has not only impacted Citigroup’s project management practices but also its organizational culture.
My efforts in driving agile transformations have had far-reaching implications, leading to better collaboration, faster delivery cycles, and a more innovative work environment.
