Nextech AR
Led enterprise product and engineering transformation on a legacy SaaS platform. Improved release velocity, reduced defects, and unlocked new revenue streams through CI/CD adoption and product-led monetization.
The Context
Nextech AR operated a 15-year-old PHP monolith powering an event and marketplace SaaS platform. Slow release cycles, high defect rates, and fragmented infrastructure limited the team’s ability to ship reliably and monetize emerging demand.
The Challenge
Balancing feature velocity, system stability, and revenue growth within a legacy architecture. Engineering teams were constrained by manual deployments, limited testing automation, and increasing operational risk as the platform scaled.
Key Product & Engineering Decisions
CI/CD as a force multiplier over feature expansion: Prioritized delivery infrastructure and automated testing to unlock sustainable velocity gains rather than shipping incremental features.
Revenue-led product bets over platform-only improvements: Identified unmet demand in event promotion and validated monetization before over-investing in platform refactors.
Infrastructure simplification to reduce operational risk: Consolidated fragmented payment systems to improve reliability and reduce maintenance overhead.
Execution
Championed CI/CD adoption and automated testing across the engineering team, resulting in faster and safer releases. Partnered closely with engineering to diagnose architectural bottlenecks and sequence improvements without disrupting live customers.
Launched Boost Ads, a paid visibility product for events, increasing impressions and creating a new revenue stream. Rationalized payments infrastructure by consolidating 8+ gateways into a streamlined, high-reliability setup.
Outcomes
- 40% improvement in release velocity
- 50% reduction in defect rates
- 30% revenue growth driven by new monetization surface
- Reduced operational risk and ongoing maintenance costs
Key Learnings
- Delivery infrastructure directly compounds product velocity and business impact
- Monetization opportunities often emerge once platform constraints are removed
- In enterprise systems, reliability and speed must scale together
- Product managers create leverage by sequencing technical and business bets correctly