Shopify VP of Product on How to Build AI-First Products | Glen Coates | E269

The Product Podcast

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Glen Coates, Vice President of Product at Shopify.

Shopify is one of the world’s leading commerce platforms, powering millions of businesses and helping entrepreneurs sell online and offline with ease. Since launching in 2006, it has become a global e-commerce giant and the second-largest online retailer in the U.S., with over $8 billion in annual revenue and 8,000+ employees working fully remotely.

Glen leads Shopify’s Core Product organization, overseeing the storefront, checkout, back office, marketing, analytics tools, and the core developer platform. He also drives Shopify’s thriving partner ecosystem, which offers merchants access to over 10,000 apps. From video game developer to B2B ecommerce founder to product leader at scale, Glen brings a rare blend of technical depth and entrepreneurial vision.

In this episode, he shares how his unconventional path shaped his approach to product leadership, the principles behind Shopify’s fast-moving strategy, and how the company stays ahead with AI and deep product focus. He also explains his org design for scale, why every product leader must “know everything down to the details,” and how the team keeps the experience polished with the “Boring Edition.”
What you’ll learn:
-Glen’s journey from game development to leading Shopify’s core platform.
- How Shopify’s viral “AI memo” raised the bar for PMs and engineers to build faster.
- The Outcomes, Assumptions & Principles framework behind better product decisions.
- Why focusing on fundamentals keeps Shopify nimble and merchants competitive.
Key Takeaways 👇
- Entrepreneurial Product Leadership: How building Handshake prepared Glen to tackle real commerce pain points at Shopify.
-Future-Proof Commerce: How Shopify uses its rich data and AI to help millions of merchants grow.
-Decision-Making at Scale: Glen’s practical frameworks for aligning thousands of people to deliver seamless, high-quality products.

This episode is brought to you by Persona, the adaptable identity platform that helps businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust. These days, it's easier than ever for fraudsters to steal voices, faces, and identities. That's where Persona comes in; helping leading companies to securely verify individuals and businesses worldwide, providing flexible building blocks to create tailored verification flows that maximize conversion while minimizing risks.
Whether you work at a startup or large enterprise, you can get started for free here: https://withpersona.com/productschool

Social Links:
- Follow our Podcast on TikTok here
- Follow Product School on LinkedIn here
- Join Product School's free events here
- Find out more about Product School here

Credits:
Host: Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Guest: Glen Coates

Chapters

1. Shopify VP of Product on How to Build AI-First Products | Glen Coates | E269 (00:00:00)

2. Meet Glenn Coates: Inside Shopify’s Scale and Mission (00:00:51)

3. From Games Developer to Product Leader (00:03:09)

4. Prototyping Faster: Glenn’s AI-Powered Design Loop (00:04:11)

5. How Shopify’s AI Memo Changed Everything (00:05:13)

6. Making Shopify’s APIs Talk: LLM-Ready Data and Dev Docs (00:09:27)

7. Will AI Replace the App Ecosystem? (00:14:20)

8. Flat Orgs, Big Brains: How Shopify Stays Cohesive (00:19:15)

9. How Leaders Stay Close to the Details (00:26:31)

10. Measuring What Matters: Shipping, Adoption, and Results (00:31:29)

11. Betting Boldly: When Instinct Beats Data (00:36:29)

12. The Boring Edition: Why Polish Beats New Features (00:41:11)

13. Why ‘20% Engineering Time’ Makes Glenn Crazy (00:45:30)

14. The Power of Stated Assumptions and Clear Principles (00:50:24)

15. Closing Thoughts: Startup Rigor at Shopify Scale (00:56:20)