I recently went one-on-one with Sheldon Monteiro, Chief Product Officer of Publicis Sapient.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Sheldon: I didn’t get here by following a plan. For a long time, I thought that meant I was doing something wrong.
I grew up moving often, which forced me to adapt early. You learn quickly that stability is temporary, but the ability to learn in unfamiliar environments is durable. That lesson has stayed with me.
Early in my career, I spent two years at the Stock Exchange of Thailand building trading systems. It was my first real exposure to people who depend on uncertainty. They weren’t trying to eliminate volatility; they were trying to understand it faster than others. That fundamentally changed how I think about risk and change.
My biggest recurring mistake was assuming that success meant becoming an expert and protecting that expertise. Every time I did that, my growth stalled. Every real inflection point came when I gave up certainty and stepped into something I didn’t yet understand.
Over nearly three decades at Sapient and Publicis Sapient, and more than 15 roles, the pattern is clear: growth came from discomfort, not optimization.
Adam: In your experience, what are the keys to building great products?
Sheldon: Most organizations say they want innovation, but they quietly reward safety. Great products come from teams willing to challenge assumptions early, surface disagreement, and resist premature consensus. The biggest threat to product excellence isn’t failure – it’s familiarity.
That said, bold ideas without rigor don’t scale. The best products emerge when teams combine real curiosity with an uncompromising bar for quality. Leaders have to protect both, especially when pressure mounts.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Sheldon: Stop overvaluing static skills. Technical expertise ages quickly. What lasts is how people think under pressure, how they learn, and how they work together when conditions change.
The strongest teams aren’t the most credentialed – they’re the most adaptable. They can break down ambiguity, communicate clearly across disciplines, and move without waiting for perfect information.
Learning also isn’t personal – it’s cultural. When leaders learn out loud and admit what they don’t know, teams do the same. That’s how resilience is built.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Sheldon: Effective leaders are willing to outgrow their own success. What made you effective yesterday will eventually constrain you if you cling to it. Leadership isn’t about repeating what worked – it’s about recognizing when past success has turned into inertia.
The best leaders move forward without complete certainty, but they’re very clear about what they won’t compromise: values, quality, and purpose.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Sheldon: Most leaders plateau not because they lack ambition, but because they stop challenging their own thinking. Self-awareness is foundational. Leaders need to ask: Which strengths am I overusing? What assumptions am I no longer questioning?
Growth also requires choosing situations where you’re not the most knowledgeable person in the room. If your role always reinforces what you already know, you’re not growing – you’re coasting.
Adam: What are the most important trends in technology that leaders should be aware of and understand? What should they understand about them?
Sheldon: AI value is constrained by organizational context, not algorithms. AI fails when treated as disconnected pilots. It works when enterprises build shared platforms where intelligence compounds.
Agentic AI is a transformational shift. We’re moving from tools that respond to prompts to systems that execute work inside business processes. The question is no longer “Can I automate this?” but “Do I understand what the new opportunities, threats and bottlenecks are in my business model and business processes?”
Unstructured data is the next competitive advantage. Most organizational knowledge lives outside databases. Making sense of documents, conversations, and everyday interactions is changing what companies can learn, and act on
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Sheldon:
- Make learning part of your operating rhythm, not just moments of crisis.
- Invest in timeless skills – clear thinking and communication outlast any technology cycle.
- Don’t confuse uncertainty with danger. Many of the best opportunities exist because the path isn’t obvious.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Sheldon: A mentor once told me: “If you’re comfortable, you’re probably not growing.” I’ve seen that play out repeatedly. Comfort feels efficient, but it rarely produces transformation. Every meaningful step forward in my career came from choosing growth over ease – even when it meant giving up something meaningful up.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Sheldon: Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about moving forward without them – and creating space for others to grow along the way. Progress requires motion. Leaders who step into the unknown don’t just evolve themselves; they make evolution possible for everyone around them.
