Kevin Burgess.

Independent Product, Operations, & AI Advisor

Strategic Advisory & Research

2019 — Present

Remote

• Lead strategic transformation engagements across product, operations, and go-to-market functions for owner-operated and mid-sized businesses.
• Conduct primary customer research and competitive analysis to realign positioning, pricing, and channel strategy — contributing to commercial expansion including new product launches and a ~20% increase in distribution footprint in a representative engagement.
• Reengineered client operating systems, shifting manual sales and reporting workflows to AI-enabled automation; eliminated a full functional role in a representative engagement and generated ~$150K in recurring annual savings while transforming executive visibility.
• Design and deliver executive AI capability workshops that increase organizational adoption and unlock previously deprioritized initiatives by removing manual effort constraints.
• Implement real-time analytics dashboards and decision frameworks that accelerate executive decision-making by replacing retrospective reporting with live operational intelligence.
• Guide leadership teams in sequencing technology and automation investments, redirecting capital from low-impact experimentation to high-leverage initiatives.
• Conduct doctoral research on AI awareness and its influence on strategic agility in small and mid-sized businesses using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Founded and host Cohort in Progress, interviewing senior executives and leading researchers to translate academic insight into practical strategy.

Product Manager

HP Inc.

Nov 2021 — Present

Fort Collins, CO

• Owned product delivery and operational outcomes across three scrum teams, reducing build time by 20% and improving pipeline efficiency through AI-enabled development practices.
• Modernized requirements and delivery workflows through AI and automation, eliminating $580K in annual non-value-added effort and reducing developer rework by 60%.
• Scaled an incubation product from concept to a $2.6M business unit, delivering 80% of planned features while aligning roadmap execution to revenue and customer outcomes.
• Set product strategy and prioritization frameworks to align engineering investment with customer impact, revenue growth, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with engineering, sales, and solutions teams to accelerate enterprise adoption, including enabling a VPN-less access model that secured a $450K TCV customer.
• Established onboarding and data center configuration automation, shortening customer setup from four weeks to two days and materially accelerating sales cycles.
• Optimized data center utilization through telemetry-driven insights, delivering $50K in monthly cost savings while maintaining customer experience.
• Transformed agile and operating models across four scrum teams (19 members), increasing delivery predictability and throughput from 20% to 80%.
• Instituted durable product governance practices — acceptance criteria, release quality checks, experimentation frameworks, and decision records — to improve execution consistency at scale.

Digital Marketing Associate

Red Ventures

Apr 2019 — Nov 2021

Fort Mill, SC

• Formed and led a new product team, implementing scrum practices and building roadmaps to deliver 12 key features across 5 milestones, culminating in a successful MVP.
• Led development of a data-science-based HVAC lead matching system to reduce missed dealer contacts, targeting an improvement from 20% missed leads to 5%.
• Identified a critical data discrepancy in a high-value contract, leading to improved financial clarity and strategic renegotiation opportunities.
• Revamped MYMOVE's email strategy to prioritize post-move user needs, increasing retention by 30% and expanding customer lifetime value from 3 to 14 months.
• Coordinated with product and UX teams to refine landing pages based on behavioral data, increasing conversion efficiency and reducing drop-off.
• Drove 80% lift in phone lead conversions and a 60% email open rate increase for 6M+ subscribers by combining A/B testing, behavioral data, and personalization in Iterable campaigns.
• Enhanced the "dealer score" model into a data-science-driven algorithm that boosted dealer feedback rates from 30% to 80% through improved lead qualification.

Owner

Another Round Disc Golf

Apr 2014 — Apr 2019

Charlotte, NC

• Built customer-focused retail operations and grew store footprint to a location three times larger through consistent community engagement and content-driven marketing.
• Scaled inventory and e-commerce using Squarespace sales analytics to produce sustained annual sales growth of 50%.
• Produced and hosted a disc golf podcast generating over 100,000 annual listens to increase brand awareness and customer retention.
• Implemented SKU system that reduced shoplifting to near zero and improved supplier terms, lowering cost of goods by 15%.
• Captured roughly three-quarters of local market share by organizing events and content that outperformed competitors.
• Redesigned POS reporting and purchasing workflows to align stock with demand, improving stock turns and inventory flow.
• Hired, trained, and managed store staff, developing performance standards and growth plans that increased team capability and retention.

Structural Engineer

SteelFab, Inc.

Jun 2008 — Apr 2014

Charlotte, NC

• Designed over 10,000 steel connections for diverse projects, including hospitals and skyscrapers, ensuring structural integrity and safety.
• Led connection design efforts for high-profile projects, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

Doctor of Business Administration

Temple University

Sep 2025 — Jun 2028

Philadelphia, PA

• Research focuses on AI awareness, strategic agility, and decision-making in small and mid-sized businesses using mixed qualitative methods.
• Emphasis on translating academic research into actionable frameworks for executives and operators.
• Coursework and research inform advisory work, product strategy, and applied experimentation.

Master in Business Administration

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

May 2019

Charlotte, NC

BS in Civil Engineering

North Carolina State University

May 2008

Raleigh, NC