This time, the tea and shortbread have been swapped for a fine glass of fruity energy drink and a generous slice of mud cake, as we sit down with our distinguished gentleman and CPO – Rusmir Crnojević.
We want to get to know the man behind the minimalistic desk setup, and dive deep into his ideas on the mission of a CPO: navigating risks, ensuring quality, making sound decisions, tackling the rapid evolution of AI. All while packaging it into first-class software. This is the first article of two, distilling our conversation with Rusmir.
A Clear Conviction About How Software Should Work
Rusmir’s interest in technology and computers began at an early age, eventually leading him to study computer engineering at university.
He started his career as a consultant, working on assignments mainly in logistics and real estate. It was in the latter that he was entrusted with his first role as Product Owner, thanks to his straightforwardness and strong convictions about how software systems should function.
In 2021, Rusmir joined a young Quiddly, first as Product Owner, later stepping into the role of Chief Product Officer.
The best thing about working at Quiddly is being part of a modern, young company in a highly competitive industry. Having the opportunity to leverage our software to take our customers to new heights is an incredibly cool feeling, and being in a role where I get to shape the future of our products truly feels like a dream job.
The Role of a CPO in Fintech
One of the core tasks of a CPO is bridging customer needs with engineering realities. We’re curious to learn how Rusmir identifies and translates market and customer insights into actionable product requirements.
It’s not magic by any means. I focus on maintaining close, ongoing collaboration with customers to deeply understand their needs, pain points, and goals. By engaging directly and continuously, I ensure the products we build truly solve meaningful problems.
Internally, every initiative goes through a structured validation process where relevance, impact, and alignment with customer priorities are assessed before resources are committed. This approach ensures the roadmap is both customer-driven and actionable for the engineering team.
From Theory to Action
It’s one thing to understand customer needs and have processes in place. But when projects span multiple customers and departments, keeping laser focus can be a challenge. How does Rusmir ensure everyone moves in the same direction?
I believe in being as straightforward as possible. I focus on transparency, maintaining clear communication, and setting the right expectations across all stakeholders, internally and externally. By doing this, we ensure alignment and keep everyone moving together.
After deciding what to do, it’s equally important to understand how and why, and then act with the right priorities. The validation process supports this, but Quiddly also holds regular prioritisation sessions tied closely to the roadmap.
We can act quickly and maintain a short time-to-market cycle. This approach also allows us to adapt rapidly to changing market needs.
Quality and Decision-Making
Knowing your market and your teams certainly helps guide successful software development. But knowing what to prioritise is just as important as knowing what to set aside.
Rusmir explains that he relies on a combination of customer collaboration, data-driven insights, and structured internal decision processes to create optimal outcomes.
Frameworks like RICE help us objectively evaluate initiatives and ensure alignment with business goals. Additionally, we use prototypes or MVPs to quickly test assumptions and gather feedback before committing significant engineering resources.
Join Us in Part Two – On Product Leadership
In this first article, we’ve explored Rusmir’s convictions about quality, decision-making and the balancing act of a CPO in fintech.
In Part Two, we’ll shift the focus to product leadership, talking business impact, innovation, AI, and what it really takes to steer a product organisation into the future.