Nico Parola
Product & Technology Leader · CPO at Publica.la
Summary
I've spent 14+ years building things that didn't exist yet — programs, teams, products, offices. My background is in program management and operations, but product is where I've landed and where I feel most at home. I love the craft of figuring out what to build, why it matters, and how to get a team to ship it well. Currently CPO at Publica.la, a digital publishing platform operating across Latin America and Southern Europe. I'm also a heavy AI user — I build internal tools, automate workflows, and prototype fast using Claude, Claude Code, and whatever LLM makes sense for the job.
AI & Technology
I use AI the way a carpenter uses power tools — it doesn't replace the thinking, but it changes what's possible in a day. I work daily with Claude and Claude Code for agentic coding, internal tooling, and workflow automation. I build data pipelines and integrations with n8n, experiment with MCP servers, and actively benchmark new models to find product opportunities before they become obvious. I'm especially interested in AI applied to content personalization and editorial workflows.
Experience
Chief Product Officer (CPO)
Publica.la · Remote (Spain-based, LATAM & Europe)
- Own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for a digital publishing platform serving publishers across Latin America and Southern Europe.
- Lead a team of Product Owners, Designers, and QA — working closely with engineering to keep shipping without losing quality.
- Driving mobile app monetization strategy: redesigning the Reader App architecture to adapt to Apple and Google platform rules across multiple regions.
- Define the metrics that matter — engagement, retention, revenue — and build the experimentation culture to move them.
- Work directly with the CEO and founders on business model, pricing, and go-to-market decisions.
Product Manager
Publica.la · Remote (Spain-based)
- Took over product management after three years on the ops side — brought a different perspective to discovery: I already knew the business, the customers, and the bottlenecks.
- Rebuilt the product process: from loose roadmap discussions to structured discovery, proper specs, and a release rhythm the team could trust.
- Led payment system improvements and regulatory compliance work across Latin American markets — unglamorous but critical for revenue.
- Ran competitive analysis that reshaped our positioning in the digital content space.
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Publica.la · Remote (Spain-based)
- Joined to help a fast-growing startup find its operational rhythm — the kind of role where you build the plane while flying it.
- Built the internal structures that let the rest of the company move faster: processes, cadences, vendor relationships, cross-regional workflows between LATAM and Europe.
- Owned P&L, pricing strategy, and e-commerce operations — grew revenue while keeping the team lean.
- The COO years gave me a deep understanding of the business that later made me a better PM — I knew exactly what was painful and why.
Product Owner & Scrum Master
Publica.la · Remote
- First product role at Publica.la — set up agile processes from scratch, wrote the first real specs, ran the first proper sprints.
- Bridged business needs and engineering delivery at a moment when that gap was costing the team a lot of time.
Operations Manager — Plan Sarmiento BA
Government of Buenos Aires City · Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Took over a program that was essentially outsourced to a private contractor and rebuilt it as a proper city-run initiative — new team, new processes, new ambition.
- Grew it from a basic deployment operation into a nationally and internationally recognized program covering 1,500+ public schools across Buenos Aires.
- Built the office from zero: hired the team, created the IT division, introduced Scrum, designed every process end to end.
- Led international cooperation projects with UNESCO, UNOPS, and the Inter-American Development Bank — which meant learning to operate at a very different pace and level of accountability.
- Founded the Center for Innovation in Educational Technology (CITE) as a permanent hub for experimentation within the program.
Strategic Projects Coordinator
Ministry of Science, Technology & Productive Innovation · Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Created and ran the PMO for 10+ strategic science and technology projects across the ministry.
- Coordinated joint initiatives with the World Bank and IDB — my first exposure to large-scale international programs.
Head of Resource Administration — Educational Technology Division
Government of Buenos Aires City · Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Managed administration, HR, procurement, and public bidding for the city's educational technology programs.
- Where I learned that good operations is what makes ambitious programs actually happen.
Education
Master in Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
EAE Business School · Barcelona (in progress)
Master in Educational Policies
Universidad Torcuato Di Tella · Buenos Aires (coursework completed · thesis pending)
B.A. in Political Science
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Certifications & Courses
- Professional Scrum Master™ I (PSM I) — Scrum.org
- Product Owner — UTN
- Agile and Scrum — UNOPS & Ministry of Education of El Salvador
- Gestión Ágil de Proyectos PMI-ACP — UTN (coursework)
- Experto en Project Management — UTN
- Gestión de Proyectos de Desarrollo — Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
- PMI Member (Member ID: 6950073)
Tools
Publications
Del aula a la Hiperaula — Analysis of educational innovation models and their implications for digital transformation in learning environments.
Projects I'm proud of
