Syam Kandru — CEO

Seasoned Product Leader with 20+ years of experience in technical product management, strategic planning, and customer experience optimization across insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications. Recognized for leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance product capabilities, expand competitiveness in global markets, deliver multi-million-dollar cost savings, and shape global product & CX roadmaps. Throughout my career, I’ve driven measurable impact — consistently exceeding budgetary, growth, and performance goals while achieving maximum operational output with minimal resources. My leadership approach blends strategic vision with executional excellence, enabling companies to scale, modernize, and innovate in competitive markets. Core competencies include: Customer Experience Transformation | SaaS Product Strategy | Product Modernization Fraud Prevention (GenAI) | Digital Containment | IVA | AI/ML Cloud Infrastructure | Agile/Scrum Leadership | Data-Driven Decision Making Team Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement | Global Roadmap Development Currently, as Head of Product & Platform at Likewize, I lead strategy, roadmap, and continuous improvement for a global (US&C, EMEA, APAC) suite of insurance products serving 200M+ customers across Carrier, Banking, Insurance, eCommerce, Telecom, OEM industries. Recent achievements include launching a GenAI-powered fraud prevention tool, delivering substantial cost savings and enhancing customer trust. Also, launched a global trade platform for Samsung & Giffgaff. I work closely with the CXO, CTO, and CMO to ensure our products delight customers, drive retention, and deliver measurable business value. Known by colleagues as progressive, driven, problem solver, and innovation-focused, I bring the ability to align vision, people, and technology to deliver profitable results — on time, under budget, and above expectations.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Product Leader specializing in SaaS and Insurance solutions with a focus on digital transformation.

Location: Dallas, Texas, United States

Experience: 19 yrs 10 mos

Skills

Product Strategy
Customer Experience Transformation
Product Management

Career Highlights

20+ years in product leadership across multiple industries.
Expert in leveraging AI/ML for customer experience enhancement.
Proven track record of delivering multi-million-dollar cost savings.

Work Experience

Likewize

Head of Product and Platform (3 yrs 8 mos)

DIRECTV

Lead Corporate Strategy - Customer Experience (1 yr 2 mos)

AT&T

Sr Technical Director (14 yrs 5 mos)

Senior Consultant (7 mos)

Getty Images, CGI, Alltel, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Lucent, Answer Financials, CHW, CDAC

Senior Consultant (10 yrs)

Education

Cloud Computing at Stanford University

MBA at Seattle University

Certified Scrum Master at Danube Technologies

B.Tech at Acharya Nagarjuna University

Think Before You Design Think at The University of Texas at Austin

Syam Kandru

CEO

Dallas, Texas, United States19 yrs 10 mos experience

AI ML PractitionerAI Enabled

Key Highlights

20+ years in product leadership across multiple industries.
Expert in leveraging AI/ML for customer experience enhancement.
Proven track record of delivering multi-million-dollar cost savings.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Product Leader specializing in SaaS and Insurance solutions with a focus on digital transformation.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product StrategyCustomer Experience TransformationProduct Management

Other Skills

Agile MethodologiesAI/MLCloud ComputingData-Driven Decision MakingCustomer ExperienceProject ManagementCross-functional Team LeadershipStakeholder EngagementProduct InnovationVendor ManagementManagementSDLCStrategyIntegrationTelecommunications

About

Experience

19 yrs 10 mos

Total Experience

8 yrs 1 mo

Average Tenure

3 yrs 8 mos

Current Experience

Likewize

Head of Product and Platform

Sep 2022 – Present · 3 yrs 8 mos · Dallas, Texas, United States

Direct all product and platform efforts for a global suite of insurance products impacting 100M+ customers, including developing the product vision, strategy, and global roadmap.
Enhance visibility into product performance and opportunities by defining, implementing, and analyzing KPIs, resulting in reducing churn and increasing revenue.
Align objectives and bridge communications with C-suite executives to identify and capitalize on business development and future technology investment opportunities.
Expanded product/BI team capabilities by doubling the number of staff within five months, directly contributing to sustainable business growth and improved product support.
Saved the company millions by launching an innovative, GenAI-based fraud prevention solution.
Employed Agile expertise to create the global roadmap and streamline operations, culminating in a 3X improvement in team throughput.
Implemented artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, such as the IVR/IVA/Chatbot solution, to improve insights into cross-channel customer needs, leading to a 50% reduction in call center expenses.

Product ManagementAgile MethodologiesAI/MLCloud ComputingData-Driven Decision MakingProduct Strategy+1

Directv

Lead Corporate Strategy - Customer Experience

Jul 2021 – Sep 2022 · 1 yr 2 mos · Dallas, Texas, United States

Charted the successful development and deployment of a company-wide roadmap for customer experience (CX) and NPS enhancement.
Influenced investment decisions by liaising with cross-functional leadership to define priorities.
Ensured the ongoing delivery of seamless customer experiences (CX) during Salesforce implementation by overseeing all aspects of the customer lifecycle.
Prioritized feature development through customer engagement, opportunity and threat identification, and surveys and feedback analysis.
Increased customer interactions through attractive customized, on-target offers and promotions.

Customer ExperienceProject ManagementCross-functional Team LeadershipCustomer Experience Transformation

At&t

2 roles

Sr Technical Director

Promoted

Feb 2007 – Jul 2021 · 14 yrs 5 mos

Modernized the Centralized, Customer 360 digital platform via Salesforce, Mulesoft, Service Cloud, and CRM solutions, including liaising with cross-functional stakeholders and partners to drive KPI impacts across 200K+ call centers, retail agents, and indirect agents.
Achieved a five-minute reduction in AHT per customer, successfully reducing annual costs by $90M and increasing walk-in conversions by 30% for a customer base of 180M+.
Strengthened platform security by establishing information security mandates with the CSO.
Guided the end-to-end project lifecycle, including prioritization and enablement, within an Agile/Scrum environment; utilized Jira, Jira Align, and iTrack.
Managed competing priorities and achieved harmony while overseeing stakeholder, SVP, and C-suite requirements for project deliverables.
Provided dynamic, high-quality leadership to a top-performing team consisting of product managers, product owner delegates, Scrum masters, developers, and testers.

Agile MethodologiesProject ManagementStakeholder EngagementProduct Management