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AI Minds #061 | Brandon Hawkins, Principal Product Manager at Twilio
Brandon Hawkins, Principal Product Manager at Twilio. Twilio is the world’s leading Customer Engagement Platform (CEP), powering direct, personalized, and intelligent customer experiences across every communication channel. Trusted by developers and enterprises in over 180 countries, Twilio helps companies bring AI, data, and security into every touchpoint—from sales and marketing to customer service and growth. With millions of developers building on their platform, Twilio continues to drive innovation in conversational AI and real-time communications, enabling businesses to create magical, scalable interactions with their customers.
Episode Highlights:
– Brandon shares his journey from software engineering to product management, driven by a desire to solve broader, customer-centric problems. He cut his teeth at Story blocks, learning to prioritize under the pressure of rapid growth and product-market fit.
– He reflects on his transition from startups to working at Twilio, highlighting the key difference: in large companies, influence replaces authority. Communication and documentation—like Twilio’s "write it down" culture—are essential for leading cross-functional teams.
– Brandon discusses Twilio's strategic position at the intersection of data, AI, and communications. With products like Conversation Relay and AI Assistance, they offer tools for developers and enterprises to build real-time conversational AI experiences.
– A major technical challenge in conversational AI is handling real-time voice interactions, where latency, interruption management, and voice quality are critical. Brandon notes the emergence of new UX patterns, like “interstitials,” that reflect natural human behaviors.
– He explains Twilio’s two-pillar strategy: building virtual agents to fully automate interactions and human-in-the-loop systems to enhance live agents with AI. Observability and transparency across AI-driven interactions remain a foundational focus for the company.
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Connect with Brandon Hawkins:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonjhawkins/
https://www.twilio.com/en-us
Connect with Demetrios:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpbrinkm/
Connect with Deepgram:
https://deepgram.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepgram
https://twitter.com/deepgramai
https://www.facebook.com/deepgram/
Join the Deepgram Discord Server!
https://discord.com/invite/xWRaCDBtW4
View all episodes
By DeepgramBrandon Hawkins, Principal Product Manager at Twilio. Twilio is the world’s leading Customer Engagement Platform (CEP), powering direct, personalized, and intelligent customer experiences across every communication channel. Trusted by developers and enterprises in over 180 countries, Twilio helps companies bring AI, data, and security into every touchpoint—from sales and marketing to customer service and growth. With millions of developers building on their platform, Twilio continues to drive innovation in conversational AI and real-time communications, enabling businesses to create magical, scalable interactions with their customers.
Episode Highlights:
– Brandon shares his journey from software engineering to product management, driven by a desire to solve broader, customer-centric problems. He cut his teeth at Story blocks, learning to prioritize under the pressure of rapid growth and product-market fit.
– He reflects on his transition from startups to working at Twilio, highlighting the key difference: in large companies, influence replaces authority. Communication and documentation—like Twilio’s "write it down" culture—are essential for leading cross-functional teams.
– Brandon discusses Twilio's strategic position at the intersection of data, AI, and communications. With products like Conversation Relay and AI Assistance, they offer tools for developers and enterprises to build real-time conversational AI experiences.
– A major technical challenge in conversational AI is handling real-time voice interactions, where latency, interruption management, and voice quality are critical. Brandon notes the emergence of new UX patterns, like “interstitials,” that reflect natural human behaviors.
– He explains Twilio’s two-pillar strategy: building virtual agents to fully automate interactions and human-in-the-loop systems to enhance live agents with AI. Observability and transparency across AI-driven interactions remain a foundational focus for the company.
---------------------------------------------------
Connect with Brandon Hawkins:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonjhawkins/
https://www.twilio.com/en-us
Connect with Demetrios:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpbrinkm/
Connect with Deepgram:
https://deepgram.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepgram
https://twitter.com/deepgramai
https://www.facebook.com/deepgram/
Join the Deepgram Discord Server!
https://discord.com/invite/xWRaCDBtW4