Introduce yourself!

‍
I’m Anson Parker, a resident of Brunswick, Melbourne. Born and raised in New Zealand with stop-overs in Sydney and San Francisco along the way. It’s taken me a good chunk of my career/life to realise that bringing new ideas into the world is my great passion and privilege.

What do you do for work?

I’m the chief product officer at Up, an Australian digital bank that launched in 2018. Banking was, for a long time, a walled garden to the software world, with only a select few permitted access. Creating Up has been a wild ride, but a profoundly meaningful one. And having the opportunity to bring a first principles approach to the space has been a lot of fun.

What do you do outside work?

I have 3 young children, so at this point the idea of a hobby seems like a quaint idea I might like to explore in my retirement. I do manage to steal away a little time for sporadic bouts of running and beer-making.

What areas are you watching closely or paying attention to concerning AI in the fintech sector?

The opportunity for AI in fintech is interesting to think about. Money plays such a central role in most people’s lives, but knowing the right thing to do can often feel out of reach. AI could play a big part in changing that. On the other hand, it’s an immature technology where the chance for things to go off the rails is pretty high.

Reflecting on your journey from developer to CPO, what advice would you give to someone who wants to skill up and move into a product role?

One of the great things about the product practice is that it supports a range of approaches and personalities. Perhaps more so than many of the other disciplines in software. I think finding the type of product role that works for you is key — is your strength in rallying a team around a big new idea? Do you have a passion and aptitude for ethnographic research? Or perhaps your strength is in pragmatic, delivery-focused decision-making. There’s room for all these and more.

Toughest work moment?

In general, I think people who work in software are incredibly lucky and have very little to complain about. But having to pause development to go back to square one and come up with a new brand for your product is never fun!

Most rewarding work moment?

Talking with customers whose lives have been positively impacted by what you do is about as good as it gets in our business.

What is your favourite tool or resource, and why?

It’s hard to go past the humble text editor, whether I’m capturing thoughts, developing ideas, or coding small prototypes.

Any podcast you are currently listening to, or a book you are reading?

I have to admit I am not the biggest podcast listener. When I do get out for a run or have down time I feel like I need to leave space for my own thoughts without immediately switching on someone else’s. But when I can I have been listening to the Blind Boy Podcast recently, and would highly recommend it.

The last book I finished was one of the best I’ve read in recent memory — Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

Your one-sentence work-related advice

There’s opportunity in ambiguity.

Your one-sentence hiring-related advice

Be interested, not interesting.

‍