Tara Dueñas

About Tara Dueñas

I’m a product leader who thrives at the intersection of empathy, execution, and impact. I believe great outcomes come from empowered teams, clear priorities, and relentless customer focus. With a decade of experience across automotive, tech, and IoT, I’ve led cross-functional teams to bring complex, hardware-enabled products to market from the ground up.What sets me apart is my ability to translate vision into execution. I align stakeholders, build high-trust team environments, and make thoughtful trade-offs grounded in data and user insight. From leading pilot programs to scaling 0-to-1 products, I’ve navigated ambiguity and change with a long-term, product-minded view. I’m known for taking on what seems impossible—and finding a way to get it done. I’m energized by mentoring others, creating structure where there is none, and helping teams move forward with clarity and purpose. I lead with empathy, set a high bar for quality, and focus on driving meaningful results—not just activity. Above all, I strive to empower those around me to deliver products that truly serve users and the business. I’m currently focused on opportunities where I can shape product strategy, support and grow high-performing teams, and build products and platforms that solve real-world problems at scale.Outside of work, I’m a proud mom to two curious, fearless kiddos who remind me every day that learning, resilience, and adaptability are some of the most valuable leadership traits of all.

Experience

1. Principal Product Manager - Platform Embedded Software

   Canopy

   Apr 2022 — Present

   At Canopy Security, I led the development and launch of our smart security platform—from MVP through alpha and beta pilots to production launch-Executing a successful alpha pilot that led to a $100 million joint venture investment between Ford and ADT and managing the subsequent 100-participant beta pilot program, including hardware performance and translating insights from user experience interviews and surveys-Driving and synthesizing effective MVP requirements through customer discovery workshops and documenting core product requirements across hardware, software, frontend applications, and perception algorithms for activity detection-Leading a team of product managers and engineers while partnering with over two dozen cross-functional team members to craft holistic solutions based on customer research, all on-time and cost-competitive to generate sustainable, recurring revenue-Implementing and overseeing an Agile release process with software development teams to ensure focused development, resulting in expediting time-to-market-Developing a regular cadence with executives to clearly communicate now, near, and far feature roadmap aligned with key business drivers-Representing Canopy at CES to broaden market reach and driving millions in pipeline opportunities with partners for new business in adjacent industries

Education

• University of Michigan

  Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), Information Technology Management/Management Information Systems/Computer Science

  2011 — 2015

• Lawrence Technological University

  Master of Science, Information Technology

  2017 — 2021

• Lawrence Technological University

  Master of Business Administration - MBA

  2017 — 2020