The Build-Operate Divide: Bridging Product Vision and AI Operational Reality

Product leaders see AI possibilities. Operations teams see implementation chaos. That disconnect can kill promising AI features before they ever reach users. In this session, Chris Hernandez (Chime) and Jeremy Silva (Freeplay) share an integrated framework that bridges product strategy and operational reality. You'll learn how they transformed fragmented AI workflows into a unified approach—from prototyping and prompt testing to human review loops and model benchmarking. We’ll explore how to build evaluation systems that satisfy both technical and business stakeholders, create effective HITL processes from day one, and use QA as a strategic enabler of generative AI quality. Most importantly, we’ll show how product and operations can move beyond friction—working together to deliver AI features that scale responsibly and ship faster, with confidence. About Jeremy Silva A seasoned ML engineer with extensive experience building and deploying language models in the healthcare sector, Jeremy currently serves as Product Lead at Freeplay. At Freeplay, he oversees an enterprise-ready platform that empowers teams to run experiments, create evaluations, monitor production systems, and label data—all within a unified environment. Drawing from hands-on collaboration with Freeplay's enterprise customers, Jeremy brings valuable "in-the-trenches" experience building LLM systems at scale. This direct customer engagement has also positioned him as a trusted advisor, helping organizations shape and refine their AI product roadmaps for maximum impact. Jeremy’s unique perspective spans technical implementation and product development making him well-positioned to share insights on effectively bridging the gap between AI capabilities and real-world product outcomes. About Chris Hernandez I’m a Manager of Speech Analytics at Chime, where I lead a team in developing and implementing AI-powered insights to enhance member experiences and operational efficiency. With over a decade of ex