Author

Rodo Abad

Senior Product Manager · John Deere · verified 2026-09-04

Rodo Abad is a senior product manager at John Deere, where he has spent nearly nine years across various product roles, most recently in developer experience. His team’s ambition is full automation of the friction points developers face daily, but the sequencing is deliberate, safe first, sooner second, a commitment to the people behind the products at John Deere. As Rodo puts it: “At the service of all those who have greater needs than us—Humans first. Always.” For him, that means developers, whose quality of life sits at the center of every outcome he pursues. He also serves as president of a citizens advisory council on urban policy in his city, advocating for micromobility and pedestrian-first urban design, a conviction that traces to his own humans-first belief. He speaks regularly at technology conferences on topics like engineering culture and lessons from software delivery. Outside of work, he dedicates his time to his wife, with whom he happily travels the world in search of new cultures, places, and food.

From a paper they wrote for us, 2026