Senior strategy leader with top-tier consulting background from Bain & Co., Aastha has been heading global product strategy & planning at Bolt for 6 years.
She leads product / model discovery, evolution and optimization initiatives across 50 countries. Bolt operates in over 600 cities with at least 1 out of its 5 products, catering to more than 200 million lifetime customers. Drawing on her extensive experience in management consulting, product strategy & operations, Aastha also advises startups on product strategy, growth and expansion.
Upcoming Talks
28 May 2026
We have been here before.
We have lived through waves of euphoria and dismay. First the computer. Then the web. Then mobile. Each time we believed everything was changing. Each time shallow practice was exposed. Now AI is not coming. It is here.
It drafts. It prototypes. It codes. It researches. It collapses handoffs. It accelerates output. It also accelerates mediocrity.
So who should be nervous?
This opening session revisits the role of the whole product team in an AI world, not from hype, but from history and fundamentals. It argues that this is not the end of design, product, or engineering. But it is the end of surface-level competence.
Drawing from past technology shifts and a return to hands-on learning in AI, machine learning and data science, this session explores and debates what actually survives disruption.
Our panelists will discuss:
- Why every discipline in product development is exposed by AI, not just Design
- Why shallow generalism and narrow specialism are both fragile in 2026
- How will team structures and ways of working change
- What “depth” really means when AI can generate output instantly
- The unique perspective Design brings when systems become intelligent, not just interactive
- How to think about generalist vs specialist in a world where AI fills skill gaps but cannot replace judgment
- What skills, mindsets and fundamentals will compound rather than decay
