Peer roundtables for leaders
AI/ML director and coach Bob Bouthillier argued engineering leaders need peer roundtables—like having “eight coaches”—to tackle architecture, hiring, manufacturing and timetable tradeoffs. The framing treats leadership as a high-skill discipline that benefits from curated peer critique.
Bob Bouthillier previously led interdisciplinary engineering and ML efforts at Jabil’s Radius Innovation Division, a role cited on his professional profiles and company bios. suntramedtech.com He runs the InnoGuide coaching site and a podcast where recent episodes center on AI strategy and skills, including an episode titled “AI in 2026.” innoguide.net The “eight coaches” analogy aligns with established peer-roundtable practice—most facilitator-led cohorts keep membership to about eight to twelve people to ensure deep, candid feedback. vaceos.org Organizers advertise trained facilitators and strict protocols to prevent domination and protect confidentiality. edwardlowe.org Industry roundtables have been used to surface concrete trade-offs around AI adoption, hiring, manufacturing and timetables; Projectworks’ 2025 roundtables brought roughly 40 senior engineering leaders together to debate pipeline timing and AI readiness. createdigital.org.au A recap of Hearsay’s fall roundtable also recorded AI as a top-of-mind discussion for engineering and product leaders in finance. yext.com Bouthillier has continued publishing leadership and product-development guidance in outlets such as Veranex and MedTech.World while positioning coaching and peer forums as operational tools for complex product programs. veranex.com His public bios list 30+ years of experience and more than 60 shipped products, a track record he cites when framing peer critique as practical decision support for hardware‑software and manufacturing trade-offs. veranex.com
