Embracing Change at Product at Heart 2026

A few weeks ago, we wrapped up Product at Heart 2026, the NINTH edition of this event! This year, we had the dubious honor of being the hottest product conference on the planet.

34℃ (that’s 93℉ for my American readers) is not a number we’re used to seeing on our thermometers here in Hamburg, which brought some interesting new challenges to event planning. Luckily our incredible team rose to the occasion with creative problem-solving and the vibes remained chill (even though the temperature was the opposite).

 
 

Every year, co-organizer Arne Kittler and I choose one word to define the event, and this year the choice was obvious: change. We’re in a moment where change is coming at us relentlessly, and as unsettling as it is, as product people we have many skills in our back pockets that we can put to good use.

 
 

To get everyone in the right frame of mind, we opened the conference with an all-saxophone ensemble, La Saxa, playing a rendition of David Bowie’s song, “Changes.” And we took inspiration from the song’s lyrics, which invite us to “Turn and face the strange.” After these opening notes, we reminded attendees that we all have a part to play in shaping this narrative of change.

 
 

With our curation, we tried to strike the balance between stories of how people are embracing the change (what they’re building or how they’re working with new technology) as well as returning to the fundamentals of product that remain the same no matter what technological innovations develop.

Every year I say this, but it’s only becomes more true: I am so honored to be a part of this community. Everyone from attendees, speakers, volunteers, and sponsors—not to mention the staff at Kampnagel—brought their A-game.

I’m not going to say that it’s easy to pull off an event with hundreds of attendees, dozens of speakers and volunteers, and a million little details to sort out, but I will say that everyone who is part of it makes all that hard work worth the effort.

 
 

I can’t wait to do it again next year on June 25! Watch this space or sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know when tickets go live.

Just can’t get enough? Find even more Product at Heart highlights here

Our media team has been hard at work capturing all the great content from the 2026 event. In addition to the recap video I shared earlier in this post, you might enjoy:

 
 
Petra Wille