Steve Payne

Director, Product and Technology

United Kingdom

About

I lead at the intersection of product strategy, AI delivery, and organisational transformation – currently driving an AI-first multi-tenant SaaS platform spanning RBAC architecture, multi-region infrastructure, and a proprietary AI observability product built from the ground up. My background spans platform product leadership, M&A integration, and team capability building across complex, multi-vertical software businesses. I’ve led the product and technology workstream across five acquisitions – handling everything from systems rationalisation and team assimilation through to customer trust recovery at board level. Not every situation is recoverable, and knowing when to hold firm and when to make the hard call is something I’ve had to develop in practice. I’m particularly interested in what it takes to build a genuinely AI-first delivery culture – not as a slogan, but as a working practice. I’m deeply involved in rolling out an AI-first SDLC across approximately 2,000 people spanning EMEA, APAC, and North America, where AI drives not just development but QA, security, compliance, deployments, and documentation as standard practice. I also coach non-product leaders to think and operate with more product discipline. I’ve led teams of up to 75 people across three continents, and I’m as comfortable in a board-level escalation as I am in a backlog review. If you’re working on platform strategy, AI product delivery, or post-acquisition integration – or just want to compare notes – I’m always open to a conversation.

Experience

  • Aptean (Full-time · 5 yrs 1 mo)
    • Director, Product and Technology
      Aug 2024 - Present · 1 yr 11 mos

      Director, Product and Technology

    • Senior Manager, Product Management
      Oct 2023 - Aug 2024 · 11 mos

    • Senior Manager, Product Owners
      Apr 2022 - Oct 2023 · 1 yr 7 mos

  • Product Owner Manager at Deloitte
    Mar 2020 - Jun 2021 · 1 yr 4 mos

  • Causeway Technologies (5 yrs 1 mo)
    • Cloud Applications Manager
      Jul 2016 - Mar 2020 · 3 yrs 9 mos

    • Senior Product Owner
      Apr 2016 - Mar 2020 · 4 yrs

    • Product Owner
      Mar 2015 - Apr 2016 · 1 yr 2 mos