Kevin De Silva
Organizational Developer, AI Product Strategist, and Trainer helping leaders navigate change, leverage technology responsibly, and unlock human potential.
Executive Summary
With a foundation in Engineering (MSc, TU Braunschweig, Germany) and experience spanning product management, organizational development, and transformation leadership, I bring a unique perspective to AI strategy, product innovation, and human-centric transformation challenges.
As founder of value-driven.io, I concentrate on leveraging AI to automate workflows, enhance efficiency, and unlock human potential, creating both tangible economic value and positive, sustainable impact.
Professional Experience Toggle
value-driven.io was founded in 2024 - born from a drive for autonomy, rapid innovation, and the belief that AI holds immense potential to create more meaningful, impactful, and efficient work experiences.
- Enhance Organizations: Leverage technology to fundamentally enhance how people work and collaborate.
- Focus: Design and implement AI-powered workflow automation and intelligent insight solutions, deliver transformation workshops, and train organizations for seamless technology adoption.
- Recent Projects: Designed a modular AI workflow automation prototype for HR and recruitment processes (ISG Personalmanagement GmbH, 2024-2025), building capabilities for intelligent data analysis and automated candidate matching.
- Current Initiative: Growing the community around an AI Empowerment & Transformation Program in French Polynesia.
Led a complex, large-scale IT transformation into a product-centric model while simultaneously managing the sensitive process of a full company closing and transition within a major retail group.
- Organizational Development: Spearheaded the restructuring of IT and Product organizations, building the crucial bridge between technology and business units to foster end-to-end responsibility and value-driven mindset.
- Product Coaching: Developed and implemented coaching programs to rapidly establish a stable, self-organized product environment, empowering leadership and teams.
- Change Leadership & Communication: Led the comprehensive change management during company closing, developing multi-channel communication plans and creating tailored formats to mitigate challenges.
- Transition Co-Leadership: Co-led critical technical transitions, including cloud migrations (Oracle, Jira), SAP migration, and data digitization/archiving.
Drove strategic change and agile and tech transformation initiatives across diverse companies within the Otto Group portfolio (OTTO, Hermes, bonprix, Witt, Lascana, OSP).
- Program Development: Developed and implemented a comprehensive, cross-sectoral Product People Coaching Program.
- Executive Coaching: Provided 1:1 coaching and mentoring for product executives stepping into high-responsibility roles.
- Organizational Design: Guided multiple departments through transformation processes, focusing on product-driven structures.
- Strategy Facilitation: Designed and facilitated executive workshop series for strategy refinement using frameworks like OKRs.
- Leadership Hiring: Consulted on and supported hiring processes for key executive product roles.
- Interim Leadership: Stepped in as interim Head of Product to set stage for refocusing on core strategy.
Established the entire product function for a fast-growing tech startup providing an event personnel platform, requiring rapid scaling and process definition.
- Team Building: Recruited and led an international, cross-functional product team, establishing remote collaboration practices.
- Technical Scalability: Architected and oversaw the critical split of a backbone.js monolith into microservices, enabling business scaling for a 50k+ user app within a 5-month timeline.
- Product Management: Managed the full product lifecycle – defining vision/roadmap based on stakeholder feedback, managing backlog across features, infrastructure redesign, and UX/UI releases.
Developed and managed customer-facing digital products for a smart-energy management system within a large European energy provider.
- Product Development: Led the development of digital Q&A flows, energy contract switching processes, and check-out functionalities (web & mobile) using agile methodologies.
- User Experience: Created customer journey prototyping/testing, user story mapping, service blueprints, and bug investigation processes.
- Technical Management: Managed API monitoring, lead management, B2B distribution, and contract negotiation support.
Approach & Methodology Toggle
My approach to transformation integrates deep diagnostic insight with iterative action, always focused on delivering tangible value. A key framework I utilize is A.D.A.P.T., focusing on iteratively building capability:
Awareness
Establishing a clear, shared understanding of the 'Why' – identifying core challenges and the sense of urgency that necessitates change.
Desire
Cultivating motivation for change by shaping a compelling vision for the future state and addressing potential concerns to build strong buy-in.
Ability
Equipping the organization with the means to succeed – removing obstacles, empowering teams, providing necessary training, and setting up focused pilots.
Perform
Implementing change through iterative action, monitoring progress via data, fostering transparent communication, and embracing a 'learn fast' mindset.
Transfer
Embedding change sustainably by sharing knowledge broadly, scaling successes based on data, and ensuring continuous learning becomes part of the organizational DNA.
Collaboration Style
- Partnership Focus: Working with clients, not just for them, fostering shared ownership.
- Transparent Dialogue: Ensuring clear, honest communication about progress, challenges, and decisions.
- Remote Effectiveness: Leveraging best practices for seamless remote collaboration across time zones.
- Empowerment & Enablement: Transferring knowledge and building capabilities for long-term self-sufficiency.
Community Involvement Toggle
Training & Facilitation
Delivered certified Agile Product Owner & Scrum Master courses as a Dozent & Trainer for EXIN Academy. Conducted pro-bono product and skills workshops for social impact companies.
Keynote Speaking
Presented on Transformation, Change, Agile, Product, and Empowerment topics for diverse audiences including Hamburg Wasser, Mars, and various Otto Group events.
Digital Consulting (Since 2016)
Ongoing freelance work helping startups and mid-stage companies with positioning, marketing funnels, market launch optimization, and online profiles.
Mentorship
Active mentor in the Intelligent People program, supporting product professionals in navigating their careers, aligning with my passion for developing talent within the product community.
Social Impact
Provided consulting and tech setup for sustainable development projects in South America (Ecuador, Nicaragua). Currently organize "Moorea Events" in French Polynesia focused on cultural exchange and supporting local causes.