Ben Freeman — Fractional product leadership & AI adoption

Sound familiar?

The situations I get called into

"Growth is stuck and nobody can say why."

I've turned this around at scale — most recently at WhatsApp, by re-centring the product on who the customer actually is and replacing incremental tinkering with a strategy built on what they needed.

"We know AI should be changing how we build, but nothing has shipped."

I run an AI-assisted delivery loop daily — I designed, built and launched a mobile app solo with AI tools — and I delivered an AI transformation inside Meta. Working workflows, not slideware.

"Our processes eat time and money."

At Meta I stripped a compliance process back to what regulation actually requires and automated the rest with AI, replacing what had been entirely manual review. At DAZN I replaced a weekly deck culture with OKRs and a 30-minute status.

"We need a new revenue line without breaking the core product."

At DAZN I built personalised advertising end to end — unlocking a $100m+ revenue stream while the core streaming experience measurably improved.

"Fake accounts, impersonation or fraud are hurting our platform."

I led the Meta organisation that detects and actions them at a scale of billions of accounts, and delivered the integrity behind Meta Verified's global launch — avoiding the abuse that sank a competitor's attempt.

"Privacy regulation is slowing us down."

I made legal a velocity partner at Meta — shared working rhythms, one company position across ~27 regional legal teams, and evidence frameworks that let product move faster with less risk.

Three ways I can help

I run product organisations, I make AI adoption real, and I've spent years where product meets regulators and bad actors.

Fractional CPO / VP Product

2–3 days a week · three-month minimum · month to month after that

Senior product leadership for a scale-up that needs it now but isn't ready to make the full-time hire. I take real ownership: strategy, roadmap, the delivery loop, the team — and your AI question. When you're ready to hire your VP of Product, I help you find them and hand over properly.

AI adoption for product organisations

Delivered as working workflows, not a deck

For companies with strong product leadership that want to move faster. I set up the tools, the guardrails and the operating model, working alongside your PMs and engineers until AI-assisted delivery is how the team works — drawing on having done it inside Meta and on building an AI-native product end to end myself.

Specialist consultations

Short, scoped engagements

Integrity & trust and safety — fake accounts, impersonation, account compromise, wherever a social or community surface exists. Privacy-regulation compliance — moving fast where getting consent and data handling right is critical. Years of doing both at the sharpest end.

Proof, not promises

I don't just advise on AI. I ship with it.

CallFirst is a mobile app that blocks social media until you've made a real phone call to someone who matters. I conceived it, validated demand with paid ads in Brazil, then designed, coded and launched it — iOS and Android, native code, 16 languages — using AI tools end to end. As a product manager, not an engineer.

5 monthsidea to launch, solo

16languages

2platforms, native code

600+commits with AI agents

See CallFirst →

Why hire me

We should talk if…

You or your CPO are too busy fundraising to drive the product.
Your CEO is an engineer at heart — the team can build anything, but you need someone who knows what to build, and how to deliver and launch it.
You need a VP of Product now, but you're not ready to hire one.
Your product leader just left, and the search will take six months you don't have.
The board keeps asking about AI, and you don't yet have an answer you believe.
Product decisions still all run through the founder — and you've outgrown that.

I'm probably not your person if…

You want an advisor who only asks questions and never gives an opinion.
You need someone five days a week in the building.
You want a report rather than working change.
Your buying process is procurement-led RFPs.

Track record

Twenty years building and leading product

I've owned $100m+ P&Ls, returned a loss-making business to profit in four months, taken a streaming service into four new countries and onto 20+ devices for 4m+ new customers, and built and led product organisations of 20+ people with 150+ matrixed engineers — through scale, reorgs, and the places where product meets regulators and bad actors.

Meta — Senior product leader across Integrity, WhatsApp and Privacy (2021–2026)
DAZN — VP Product, Advertising, Playback & Living Room Devices (2017–2021)
Tandem — Head of Digital Product, UK challenger bank (2016–2017)
Lebara Play — Head of Product (2015–2016)
Amazon — Senior PM, Instant Video & MP3 (2011–2015)
Sportingbet — Poker Product Manager, regulated markets (2007–2011)
Deloitte — Consultant, operations strategy (2003–2007)

BSc (Hons) Economics, University of Warwick · Co-Active Leadership programme · London, UK

Growth has stalled, and AI is still a slide deck.