Client context
Cloudinary is an API-first image and video platform. Teams integrate it to upload, transform, optimize, and deliver visual media at scale — in websites, mobile apps, and commerce workflows — without running their own media infrastructure.
The product org mirrors that platform split: Image, Video, and Assets are separate lines, each with its own PMs, roadmaps, and metrics. Neta, SVP Product, together with her product directors and the VP of Product Operations wanted strategic alignment, fast.
The local maximum problem
Cloudinary needed a 2026 product strategy the leadership team could use when teams prioritised work. Planning still ran in tracks. Each product line optimised its own metrics while the combined product confused users — the classic “local maximum problem”.
Self-serve growth was another significant challenge. Product teams shipped features, but adoption depth, retention, and conversion for self-serve users were below the bar Cloudinary set for itself.
Engagement
RE.FOCUS came in with a two-phase approach: 60 days to align leadership and the wider product org on one 2026 strategy, then three months with the Growth team to turn one pillar into shipped experiments and a measured outcome.
Results
- Day-7 activation grew more than 40% over the pilot period through experiments only — no engineering investment outside the Growth team
- Four 2026 strategic pillars aligned and documented, shared across Image, Video, and Assets
- Experimentation velocity tripled versus the Growth team’s baseline before the engagement
- One Context Day replaced months of fragmented alignment meetings