Head of Product & Innovation · Dublin

Hands-on product leader shipping complex systems where domain depth matters.

Engineering and mathematics foundation. At Financefair I shipped a live AI document-extraction product and re-engineered the product org to be AI-native — cutting PRD production from days to hours. Previously shipped Hertz's global booking platform (+30% Thrifty conversion; now powering Hertz brands worldwide). Equally at home in code, in front of executives, and in the discovery that decides what's worth building.

Cumulative Impact
80+M

AUM on the Financefair banking platform.

+30%

Controlled conversion uplift on Thrifty.com after the global Hertz shop-and-book launch.

~6–8×

Faster PRD production after re-engineering the product org to be AI-native (days → hours).

+€40M

Approved drawdowns underpinned to date by the live AI document-extraction product (96% approval rate).

~40

People across the business now working in the AI-native operating model.

Portrait of Cian Conway

About

Execution over theatre.

I have spent my career building the same capability — making complex systems legible and then building inside them — across progressively higher-stakes environments: QA, agency, a venture-funded sports analytics startup, Hertz, and now Financefair.

Background: B.Eng in Electronic & Computer Engineering, Pure Mathematics with the Open University, and a Masters in Mathematics Education (UL).

At Financefair I was the first product hire — built the function from scratch, sit at the leadership table, and during two engineering-leadership transitions ran product and a six-person engineering team simultaneously. I scale through systems and leverage — AI-native ways of working, sharp problem framing — not headcount alone.

Selected Evidence

01 — 06
01 · AI / FintechFinancefair · 2026

AI Document-Extraction Product

Problem

Underwriting invoices and debtor books was manual and slow — customers waited days as ops staff re-keyed values from source documents, and the eligible-drawdown calculation was gated by that back-and-forth.

Solution

Shipped a live, human-in-the-loop AI extraction product for every eligible-facility customer. AI reads the invoice or debtor book and extracts the decision-critical fields (~99% accuracy on amount and currency). Weak-performing fields were designed out of the risk path via UX. Extraction feeds the funding decision — it does not itself make the credit decision.

+€40MApproved drawdowns underpinned to date
02 · Fintech / PlatformFinancefair · 2024–26

Banking Platform & Ledger

Banking Platform & Ledger — product screenshot

Problem

Term facilities were being processed through a legacy invoice-discounting system with manual Excel workarounds. Operations was slow, customers had no clarity on limits or balances, and the platform couldn't scale to more complex facilities.

Solution

Built a triple-sided banking platform spanning funders, customers and internal users — customer, funder and admin portals on one system — with a new ledger, live multi-funder visibility, self-serve statements and integrations to WiserFunding, Codat and NoFrixion. Customer payments processing sped up from ~6 hrs/day to ~2 hrs/day.

80+MAUM across the Financefair platform
See live
03 · Mobility / ConsumerHertz

Global Shop & Book — Thrifty.com

Global Shop & Book — Thrifty.com — product screenshot

Problem

Customers were dropping off at multiple stages of the booking flow. Fragmented regional sites and inconsistent UX across brands were eroding conversion at global scale.

Solution

Led development and launch of a unified global shop-and-book platform, with Thrifty as the MVP rollout. The platform went on to power all Hertz brand bookings worldwide.

+30%Controlled conversion uplift for Thrifty
See live
04 · Self-serviceHertz

Global Modify & Cancel

Global Modify & Cancel — product screenshot

Problem

White-label customers couldn't modify or cancel bookings themselves, funnelling every change into support and inflating handling costs across brands.

Solution

Shipped a white-label self-serve modify-and-cancel platform, launched with the Thrifty brand, letting customers change reservations directly from any channel.

−2%Support calls for Thrifty (US)
See live
05 · EV / Native + WebHertz

Electric Vehicle Trip Planner

Problem

Hertz was shifting toward an EV fleet, but customers were not booking electric vehicles at expected rates — driven by range anxiety and unfamiliarity with charging.

Solution

Shipped in-app EV routing across iOS, Android and web, embedded in vehicle selection and the my-rentals view so drivers could pre-plan charging stops with confidence.

+1.7%Lift in EV rentals
See live
06 · Sports analytics / 0→1Co-founder

ProActive Stats

ProActive Stats — product screenshot

Problem

Validating a novel sports-analytics product in a nascent market, from a standing start, with early-stage constraints.

Solution

Led product discovery, ideation and management through Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme. Secured €15k Enterprise Ireland funding and named runner-up in Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur (Clare).

€15kEnterprise Ireland funding + IBYE runner-up
TechIreland profile