Technical literacy isn't replacing the MBA. It's revealing what the MBA was actually selling: access. What's left now is operational execution.
Alisha Outridge · on the new MBA
Byte & Chord is the operating company of Alisha Outridge: Interim, fractional CTPO (hybrid CTO + CPO), strategic advisor, and founder of the AI Founder Playbook. She works with executives, founders, and education partners across media, government, music fintech, and education to build real businesses and products, and upskill the people behind them.
AI Furnace
Technical literacy isn't replacing the MBA. It's revealing what the MBA was actually selling: access. What's left now is operational execution.
Why AI is already furniture, not a differentiator. What's actually left to own when everyone rents the same models. And how the best leaders decide what not to build, and see what's coming before their competitors do.
A fireside chat with Jason Feinberg of KOSIGN on what it actually takes to scale music tech: trust, rights, and the messy middle between idea and impact.
Session ↗
Masterclass
A sold-out masterclass on a Manhattan rooftop, oversubscribed 8x. Founders pressure-testing what's actually worth building before they build it.
Read the recap ↗Interim or fractional CTPO (hybrid CTO + CPO) and project-based AI/ML product leadership for companies shipping into real markets.
"Using AI to upskill themselves, not just prompt it."
From product management, product strategy, and business + entrepreneurship programming to AI Brand Visibility Labs (AEO + GEO). Founders, operators, executives, and K-12 students building real products and businesses leveraging AI, future-proofing themselves while creating products that solve real problems.
aifounderplaybook.com ↗A pet luxury design brand. Pebble #1 is a sculptural micro-den for cats or dogs (small breeds only): a hidden curved tunnel into a private chamber. Small batch and made to order.
"Where building products meets building yourself."
The Byte & Chord podcast on the human side of building in tech. Founders, creators, and operators on AI, creativity, identity, and staying relevant when everyone's a product again.
High-level meets hands-on. Product and technology leadership for organizations navigating AI transformation, scaling complex systems, or filling a senior gap mid-flight.
Time-boxed engagements for organizations needing clarity, alignment, or a real plan — without committing to a long-term retainer.
Cohorts, masterclasses, and coaching for AI builders at every stage — adult founders & operators, high school students (via Kyros Prep), college students (via AnitaB.org), and organizations seeking white-label programs. 118+ trained. 80% launch-or-advance rate.
Keynotes, executive workshops, and custom AI literacy programs for enterprises, foundations, and education partners. By introduction.
Strategy meets code.
Creativity meets scale.
Alisha Outridge has spent 15 years building AI products — at Reuters, at TuneCore, and at two acquired startups. She founded Byte & Chord in 2024 to take that work directly to the people, schools, and organizations that need it.
As CTPO of TuneCore, she led AI personalization that drove +25% revenue and +30% engagement across 500K+ creators. As CPO of FlyBy, she shipped the computer vision and AR work that seeded Apple's ARKit. As CPO of WHIM, she scaled a $1B smart-screen platform to 3.3M+ daily viewers across NYC Transit.
She now teaches at Brown University and Hunter College CUNY, advises the U.S. Department of Education on AI governance through USDR, and runs the AI Founder Playbook — the cohort and masterclass program that's trained 118+ founders, PMs, and operators with an 80% launch-or-advance rate.
Full work history on LinkedIn ↗Pick the path that fits. Most engagements start with a 30-minute conversation about what you're trying to ship and where the gap is.
