Senior Product Manager · AI & Agentic Product

James
Finnie

I build AI-native products and deep context systems — prototype-first, agents in the loop, and a relentless focus on what we’re building and why.

Let’s talk → See my focus
§ 01 — About

An AI-native product leader — building prototype-first, with agents in the loop, and a relentless question: what are we building, and why?

I’m a Senior Product Manager based in Toronto, focused on AI-native product and agentic engineering. I build deep context systems — for work and for personal use — in the spirit of a personal LLM wiki: structured knowledge that agents can actually reason over.

At CIBC Investor’s Edge, I’m moving my product discipline toward prototype-first delivery: agent loops, skills files, and working prototypes in place of heavyweight specs. I’m shifting the team from long requirement documents to PR-FAQs — one- and six-pagers — wiring design systems into agentically built prototypes, with pipelines that carry the work through to production.

When building is cheap, taste and judgement are the moat. Knowing what to build — and why — is the hard part.

On the product itself: incumbent banks feel too generic. I want investing that feels like the institution actually works for you — timely insight and nudges that point you in the right direction, where it’s appropriate to.

I.

Taste at speed

When anyone can build anything, judgement is the moat. Ship fast — but know which of a thousand generated paths deserves to exist.

II.

Ask why, relentlessly

Cheap building makes the what and the why the hard part. Conviction and discovery come before code.

III.

Prototype-first

Agent loops, skills files, and working prototypes over specs and decks. Build the thing, then decide.

§ 02 — Focus areas

What I’m building toward.

01

Deep context systems

Structured knowledge that agents can reason over — a personal LLM wiki for work and life. Context as the foundation everything else builds on.

Context engineeringRetrievalAgent-ready knowledge
02

Agentic engineering

Prototype-first delivery built on agent loops and skills files — working software in place of static specs and long documents.

Agent loopsSkills filesPrototype-first
03

Agentic product management

Agents for discovery and product thinking — turning ideas into PR-FAQs and prototypes instead of heavyweight requirement docs.

DiscoveryPR-FAQsProduct mindset
04

Taste at speed

When anyone can build anything, taste decides what ships. Speed and judgement — not speed alone — is the competitive edge.

JudgementCurationVelocity
05

Personalisation, done right

Investing that feels like it works for you — timely insight and nudges in the right direction, where it’s appropriate to give them.

PersonalisationInsightNudges
06

Prototype → production

Design systems feeding agentically built prototypes, with pipelines that carry work end to end — from first sketch to shipped.

Design systemsE2E pipelinesDelivery
§ 03 — Experience

The track record, compressed.

2025 — Now
CIBC Investor’s Edge

Senior Product Manager / Product Owner

Building AI-native product for self-directed investing — agentic engineering, deep context systems, and personalisation. Moving the team toward prototype-first discovery and PR-FAQ-driven delivery.

Toronto
2023 — 2025
Trudell Medical International

Manager · IoT & Intelligent Systems

Led IoT and intelligent-systems product — connected-device data, mobile apps, and product strategy across a complex hardware-plus-software platform.

London, ON
2022 — 2023
StoneX

Product Analyst / Associate Product Manager

Trading and brokerage product — mobile trading, share dealing, and reliability work, including a major reduction in mobile crashes on a mobile-first platform.

London
2021 — 2022
Equals Money

Product Analyst

Fintech product and operations — onboarding, identity verification, internal tooling, and customer-journey improvements across payments and FX.

London
SOAS, University of London
MA International Studies & Diplomacy — Merit
2020 — 2021
University of Glasgow
MA (SocSci) Business & Management — 2:1
2016 — 2020
§ 04 — Capabilities

What I bring to a team.

Product
  • AI-native product strategy
  • Discovery & product mindset
  • PR-FAQs (one & six pagers)
  • Roadmapping & prioritisation
  • Executive communication
Agentic Engineering
  • Prototype-first delivery
  • Agent loops & skills files
  • Agentically built prototypes
  • Design-system-driven prototyping
  • E2E pipelines to production
AI & Context
  • Deep context systems
  • RAG & retrieval
  • Evals & prompt design
  • LLM tooling & agents
  • AI product operations
WealthTech & Commercial
  • Self-directed investing
  • Personalisation & nudges
  • Financial modelling & sizing
  • Build-versus-buy analysis
  • Vendor evaluation
§ 05 — Get in touch

Let’s build.

Always happy to talk AI-native product, agentic engineering, deep context systems, and where investing goes next.

Email → LinkedIn → GitHub →