Innovation must serve a purpose or risk becoming noise—and that purpose is your customer. This was the key message of GCash VP and head of new businesses Winsley Bangit during the 1st Mansmith Product Masters Summit held at the RCBC Plaza Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in Makati City.
A pioneering thought leadership event, the 1st Mansmith Product Masters Summit convenes business leaders to tackle the full spectrum of product development from ideation to execution. Designed to offer both strategic insights and actionable frameworks, the summit serves as a platform for cross-industry learning and innovation.
In his session, “Building a Robust Product Roadmap,” Bangit, who leads strategy and partnerships for the super app’s emerging growth areas like MadTech, insuretech, wealth management, and sustainability, challenged the race toward speed and merely for speed. During his talk he emphasized intentional innovation—the practice of designing products with real user problems in mind, guided by clarity and continuous validation.
“I’ve always believed that the best products are built when we listen closely to real customer needs—and when we learn from one another across industries,” said Bangit. “Products shouldn’t be built just because they can be, they should be built because someone genuinely needs them.”
Citing the journey of GCash from e-wallet to inclusive digital finance platform, Bangit emphasized that true differentiation lies not in tech alone, but in building ecosystems that uplift everyone in them.
“We started as a payments solution, but we did not stop there. We tried to identify where we can enhance things, enable users, and enable merchants and we evolved into an ecosystem with much more.”
The event gathered a diverse group of product managers, entrepreneurs, designers, and marketers to equip the country’s sharpest builders with the mindset and tools to create products that resonate. Alongside Bangit, the event featured leaders from Nestlé, JS Unitrade, and Ipsos, offering cross-industry insights on innovation, research, and vision-driven product development.
The summit is organized by Mansmith and Fielders Inc., the Philippines’ leading marketing and entrepreneurship training and consulting firm, known for equipping professionals and enterprises with tools for breakthrough thinking.