I’m
Chris Allen
Let’s Create Something!
From computer vision, machine learning and big data management to market analysis, dynamics and marketing strategy, I’m a marketing professional with an engineering mind suited perfectly for product development.
Leveraging a diverse background of 15+ years in hardware and software at Fortune 50 companies and early to late stage startups, I’m excited to work with you on your next big idea!
Take a peek under the hood at how I approach product development!
Creations
Whether it’s a new vehicle, a new wheel and tire package, retail SaaS software, data analysis, or a robotic yard truck, creating things used by real people in the real world drives me at my core.
Scroll along to see highlights of my creations…
Hardware
Chevrolet Colorado
Product Brand Manager NEW Colorado Front
Product Innovation Configurable Bed Rails Colorado
As a life long “car guy”, working directly on one of my favorite vehicles was a dream come true. The midsize truck segment is a small yet passionate segment with owners who much like myself, are driven to explore, personalize, and remain fiercely loyal to the segment. My first vehicle at 16 was a GMC Sonoma High Rider (S10), which kicked off a passion for off-road adventure and ownership of a string of 4×4’s from pickups to Jeeps. The 2015 Colorado pickup revitalized the midsize truck segment, and a strong accessory portfolio was key to driving customer interest, loyalty, and company profitability.
Accessory Product Manager
- Developed $100M accessory launch portfolio for 31xxn-2 Colorado and Canyon with roadmap and go to market plan
- Launched collaboration with AEV for ZR2 Bison with accessory planning
- Drove highest performing accessory plan for 31XXn with over $1k/vehicle sold
Thought Leadership: Personalization is the key to customer loyalty and company profitability Success as the accessory product manager got me notice with Chevrolet brand leadership, and through working relationships cultivated during my time in accessories, I was tapped to be the product and brand manager for the Colorado pickup truck. This included driving the brand strategy for the existing truck while also laying the foundation for the next generation truck beginning development.
Brand and Product Manager
- Managed launch of ZR2 Bison package in 2019 including go to market and accessory product readiness
- Lead development of next generation 31xxn-2 (2023 model year) product including product strategy and positioning, trim mix, pricing, volume forecasting, and business case development
- Established roadmap for model year transition plans, including from old to new generation
Thought Leadership: Expanding passionate segments: Midsize Trucks
Jeep Gladiator Top/Tonneau Concept
My first startup was created within FCA (now Stellantis) as a team of 6 innovators. We established an R&D innovation team with a passion for solving hard problems and bringing those solutions to life. We focused on the Jeep brand which is always ripe for innovating, and from that came a team and innovation concepts that resulted in many patents and physical concepts from swappable top/tonneau on the Gladiator to pivoting light bars.
Our team and process ultimately served as inspiration for an “intrapreneurial” effort within Stellantis, enabling innovation to stem from anywhere within the company, driving increased creativity and employee engagement.
Read the story: My first startup
Software
B2B Retail Software as a service (SaaS)
automotiveMastermind Enterprise EyeQ
Senior Product Manager
- Launched OEM-facing incentive tool utilizing actual customer data
- Developed predictive model to determine the next vehicle a customer is most likely to purchase
- Managed back-end data store model for OEM-facing data
I joined automotiveMastermind as it was growing from a startup to an acquired entity (now owned by S&P Global) with the mission of expanding its product offering from automotive retail to vehicle OEMs. Utilizing the wealth of transaction data from retailers, there is a large opportunity to enable manufacturers to directly interact with customers most likely in market. “Private Incentive” offers targeted directly to in-market customers results in more efficient incentive spending for manufacturers, maximizing retention and profitability.
AI and ML
Creating Products that use AI and ML
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are all the rage these days and for good reason. Products can work more efficiently, improve on their own, and make user interactions simpler and more engaging.
Read more about the sometimes surprising ways I’ve used ML and AI in product development
Commercial Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous vehicles are the future…eventually. While not ready for safe mass adoption on public roads, autonomy can be deployed in key locations today doing the dirty, repetitive, and often dangerous jobs that humans shouldn’t. As the product lead at Forterra, I lead the productization of the AutoDrive autonomous vehicle stack for commercial and defense applications that puts autonomy to work in the real world today.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/1054297654?h=6b1a9c793e&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479&background=1
Utilizing AI tools in my workflow
Product development requires a tremendous amount cognitive load. I’ve been utilizing machine learning to automate simple tasks and focus my brain on the critical problems that only I can solve. But integrating AI tools into my day-to-day workflow, I can maximize my productivity while keeping cognitive load manageable.
Minimum effort, maximum results.
I utilize Large Language Models (LLM) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot to assist with:
- Market research and analysis
- Requirements gathering
- Rough draft copy generation
- Code development
- Learning and automating new tools
Competencies
Great products are created where intuition and data intersect. Data-driven product decisions that focus on the customer are fundamental to how I develop new products, using intuition and creative thinking to fill in the gaps where data doesn’t exist.
My career started with focusing on voice of customer data at J.D. Power and Associates, and I leaned into that in my first role at General Motors in market analysis and forecasting. This analytical background provided the ideal foundation on which to build my word-class skillset in product development.
Not only do I use data to tell product stories, but I’ve created data products that customers know and love today. From marketing campaign performance analytics to vehicle sales reporting to autonomous vehicle performance, utilizing data to prove success or identify areas for improvement is core to my process.
Years of Experience
0
+
- Leadership
- Product Management
- Product Strategy
- Organizational Design
Product Development
Roadmapping
Strategic Analysis
Design Thinking
Unit Economics
Go to Market Planning
Leadership
Establishing Organizational Team Structures
Building and Leading Product and Project Teams
Motivating and Coaching Across ALL Functions
Data Analysis
Qualitative and Quantitative Data
Machine Learning
Predictive Modeling and Forecasting
Visualization
customer First product development
Customer-centric product thinking applies to ideation, MVP development, product lifecycle roadmaps, and end of life
Ideation
The best products solve the biggest customer problems in ways others can’t think of.
Identifying a key problem and working as a team to ideate solutions drives the most impactful outcomes. Everyone has a different point of view, and that should be capitalized on!
Roadmapping
It all starts with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)!
Critical for any new product is identifying the minimum requirements needed to solve a customer pain point quickly. There’s always more ideas than time to develop them, so establishing a roadmap for future enhancements ensures a product that constantly surpsises, delights, and engages users
My Product Development tech stack
Data Analysis in every role
Effectively analyzing and utilizing data has been the backbone of my career
Brand Manager
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Market Share -
Sales Performance -
Sales Trends
Product Manager
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Option Mix -
Customer Satisfation -
Unit Economics
Technical Product Manager
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Software efficiency -
Robotic Vehicle performance -
Data utilization
My data tech stack
