About
Kate Makrigiannis
I bring clarity to complex, high-stakes environments through coaching, storytelling, and systems thinking across 14 years - healthcare startups, defense software, enterprise platforms, AI. The core moves work across industries: name what's actually happening, build structure to help get people moving, and make the work usable (maybe even delightful!) in the real world.
I've been doing this work on real teams since before remote work, before the pandemic, before AI. Facilitating hard conversations, synthesizing chaos, getting people moving - I learned all of it without the shortcuts. Now I bring that foundation plus real fluency in the AI tools everyone else is still figuring out.
Career
Where I've worked
Independent Consulting
2024–presentFractional Director of Product
Shipped HIPAA-compliant AI MVPs for FLUXX Health (menopause decision support, 800+ quiz completions, 47% engagement) and Sperity Health (biomarker-driven wellness, co-designed with physicians). Runs a 580+ skill AI agent system powering reusable consulting workflows and coaching templates.
Artium ↗
2026Product Manager & AI Practice Lead
Built the 580+ skill AI agent system that became the foundation for Artium's Product Atlas. Shaped how product teams integrate AI into discovery, delivery, and operating models. Led product on a clinical trial startup simulator for a $2.7B CRO client.
Rise8 / U.S. Space Force ↗
2022–2023Staff Product Portfolio Lead
Cut MVP cycle time from 6 months to 2 weeks at a defense software factory. Managed 20+ projects across 3 portfolio pillars and coached a PM through her first Discovery & Framing to production deployment.
Kaiser Permanente ↗
2020–2022Principal PM & Transformation Coach
Coached 70+ teams and 50+ PMs through outcome-driven product practices across a $350M portfolio. Authored a Product Practice Guide that reached approximately 20,000 KP IT staff.
Zendesk (via Pivotal Labs) ↗
2019–2020Senior Product Manager
Embedded with Zendesk's enterprise platform team. Led discovery and delivery for agent workspace features serving 170,000+ customers. Introduced lean product practices to a team transitioning from project to product thinking.
Pivotal Labs (VMware Tanzu) ↗
2017–2019Product Manager
Paired with client teams across financial services, e-commerce, and SaaS to ship products using Lean XP practices. Facilitated discovery workshops, coached PMs, and helped organizations adopt balanced-team delivery.
Product Owner, CRM
Sole Product Owner of 3 global CRM products serving 5,003 hotels. Redesigned GuestConnect to drive hotel adoption and built Guest Arrivals Reports to 91% active usage across 4 regions.
352 Inc. ↗
2013–2016Scrum Master / Agile Delivery Lead
Facilitated agile delivery across 3 concurrent teams. Led AutoTrader's MakeMyDeal (24-person team, Cox Automotive's fastest-growing unit) and rebuilt PlanningPoker.com with Mike Cohn, adopted by Cisco, Oracle, GE, and IBM.
Testimonials
What people say
JenniferDesign & Strategy Director, Kaiser Permanente“Kate is AMAZING. Her energy, the structure she brings to discussions, the way she deals with difficult conversations.”
GraceProduct Manager, U.S. Air Force“Kate's love and passion for product management is obvious from the moment you start talking to her. She cares deeply about creating something useful, functional, and beautiful. Kate taught and trained me in product management - everything I understand now about Agile software development is thanks to her capable instruction.”
PeteProduct Portfolio Director, Kaiser Permanente“THANK YOU Kate! You've been a great partner: You challenged me in ways I needed to expand my thinking, you're overflowing with good ideas, and your enthusiasm kept us going. I appreciate how you take notes to visualize ideas and keep work moving forward. Your energy is contagious and makes it a joy to work with you. Let's keep collaborating to curve the organization closer to the crystal-clear product model vision you convey.”
JasonProduct Delivery, Kaiser Permanente“Kate can out-hustle anyone: she brings a contagious energy and passion. Her superpower is simplifying the complexity we deal with - seamlessly weaving through details, synthesizing information visually with unmatched speed. She's a transformative force on our team.”
1PRawanSenior Product Manager, 1-1 Product Mentee“Kate quite literally taught me everything I know about product. She's the real deal.”
KeyshaProduct Manager, Home Depot“Kate is a natural instructor. She makes it easy for folks to talk to her about goals and challenges. My experience working with her truly prepared me to succeed - granted me a new level of respect from my stakeholders, and helped me repair team relationships. Kate made me into one hell of a product manager.”
Teaching & community
I build scalable coaching systems rather than relying on one-off sessions. Learning hubs, maturity assessments, and skill libraries are how I scale what I know.
- Lead instructor at General Assembly (Product Management, Agile)
- Conference speaker - SpringOne 2020, AFA Air Space & Cyber 2024
- Founded Lean Software Atlanta and Agile Gainesville meetups
- Mentor through Black Girls CODE, Out in Tech, My Mentor Path
- Guest lecturer at Penn State LaunchBox
Work personality
k8@work
Who am I, really? What is it like to work with me? A few details about my personality that tend to shine through in my day-to-day work life.
I love to
- •Influence and streamline product ops and processes to find better ways to work
- •Work with empowered teams of folks who really know their stuff. Trusting team members and colleagues to do their own thing well is huge for me
- •Craft pitches for big bets, facilitate hard conversations between stakeholders to make decisions, and celebrate big wins
The Predictive Index
The Maverick - Natural Leaders
- •Innovative, influential, daring, and direct
- •Wants to achieve what's never been achieved before
- •Not a fan of the status quo and will shake things up
- •Thrives with goals and the freedom to determine tactics
Mavericks love groundbreaking products and inspiring teams to grow.
Take the PI Behavioral Assessment →Enneagram
Type 3w4: The Professional Innovator & Achiever
- •Energetic, confident, competitive and motivational
- •Ambitious, goal-oriented, diligent and dependable
- •Values introspection and creative self-expression
- •Driven by sense of purpose and desire to make meaningful impact
- •Seeks growth opportunities for continuous improvement
Famous 3w4s: Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé.
Find your Enneagram type →DISC
Drive/Dominance x Influence (Di) - The Initiator & Achiever
- •A confident, natural leader eager to own direction and decisions
- •Pursues large, ambitious goals with speed and bursts of intensity
- •Results-oriented, unafraid to take action and competitive risk
- •Challenges status quo with innovative thinking
- •Thrives on change, excitement, enthusiasm, and spontaneity
Famous Di types: Steve Jobs, Meryl Streep, Muhammad Ali.
Find your DISC style →StrengthsFinder
Nearly all within the Influence Domain. Top Strength: Activator.
- •Catalysts who get things started, make things happen
- •Contagious, engaging energy and momentum
- •Can naturally turn ideas into actions
- •Love to take advantage of opportunities others miss
- •Pursues large, ambitious goals with speed and bursts of intensity
Famous Activator: Richard Branson.
Take the StrengthsFinder quiz →Branding Card Deck - Self Assessment
I am: Optimistic, Clever, Opinionated, Intuitive, Approachable.
I am NOT: Ordinary, Subtle, Quiet.
I have the card deck and can run the exercise with you.
K8 in real life
When I'm AFK (away from keyboard)
You can find me somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife Zoë and my black lab Cosmo. I still love theatre and live music, I have been known to tap-it-back at SoulCycle studios, I love to travel, and I am pretty into houseplants, video games, matcha lattes and smoky mezcal cocktails.
My favorite TV show will probably always be LOST. Recently I have been super jazzed about the NWSL team BayFC. #BLegendary
Want to work together?
I work with product teams and organizations on delivery, AI adoption, and team enablement.