In this episode of the Founder Spotlight Podcast, host Vatsa sits down with Jorge Alcantara, the founder of Zentrik, to uncover the story behind a startup that is transforming product management through artificial intelligence. Zentrik aims to bridge the gap between strategy and execution for product teams, enabling them to focus on what truly matters—delivering value to users. Jorge shares his journey, the challenges he has faced, and his vision for the future of product management and AI integration.
Jorge Alcantara’s inspiration for Zentrik came deeply rooted in his Silicon Valley experience. He witnessed firsthand how product teams were overburdened with mundane tasks, leaving little to no room for creativity and strategic thinking. Traditionally, roles like product owners, scrum masters, and project managers worked collaboratively on a product. However, in recent years, these roles have been condensed into a single individual—the product manager—leading to inefficiencies in innovation and execution.
“If you don't have time to really think of what is the best feature to build, you're going to end up as a feature factory,” Jorge explained during the podcast. Inspired by his observations, Jorge decided to tackle this problem head-on, resulting in the inception of Zentrik in the summer of 2024.
Jorge encountered multiple challenges along his entrepreneurial journey. From convincing stakeholders of the necessity of Zentrik’s AI-driven solution to validating its effectiveness, he navigated a complex landscape. A key breakthrough came during the early validation stage:
This swift traction was fueled by Jorge’s commitment to working closely with users, conducting weekly interviews, and continuously integrating feedback into the platform.
Zentrik’s mission is simple yet transformative: to help product managers focus on their high-value tasks by using AI to automate repetitive and low-impact activities. The platform takes requirements or ideas and transforms them into sprint-ready tasks in minutes, removing the tedious back-and-forth with stakeholders and engineers.
“This is a problem that would not have been solvable 3 to 5 years ago,” Jorge noted, highlighting how advancements in AI have made Zentrik’s vision viable. The team’s iterative and user-first approach has been crucial in confirming the platform’s tangible value to product teams.
Jorge emphasized Zentrik’s customer-centric culture from day one. By listening to product managers from diverse industries, Zentrik has built a community-driven platform that continuously evolves based on real-world needs.
“We are driven completely by product managers that are using our tool, that are giving us feedback, and that we're talking to every week.”
Zentrik also fosters a collaborative internal culture focused on innovation. The team is small but agile, working tirelessly to expand the tool’s capabilities and empower product leaders to thrive in their roles.
Jorge offered timeless advice for fellow founders, particularly those introducing transformative solutions in industries resistant to change.
Looking ahead, Jorge painted an ambitious vision for Zentrik. In 2025, the startup plans to launch their MVP in February, marking a major milestone for their journey. Beyond this launch, they aim to transform Zentrik into a hybrid workforce management platform where human and AI collaboration becomes seamless.
“We are building for product managers now so that we can help them in the best way possible when we're building full end-to-end solutions for these companies.”
Jorge also shared his broader perspective on product management as a discipline, forecasting its growing importance in a world where outcomes, not output, will define success. He envisions Zentrik playing a pivotal role in empowering product managers to lead this shift.
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