Written by Azra Jahic, Product Owner
Beyond the Buzzwords
Sustainability. Agile. Digital Transformation. If you’ve worked in tech for more than a week, you’ve seen these words everywhere. And by now, they can start to feel empty.
So, here’s a real question:
Is “sustainable tech” just another buzzword in 2025? Or is there something deeper, something that actually matters to how we build software?
The truth is, this year doesn’t feel like another trend cycle. It feels like a return to roots. A growing realization that true sustainability isn’t just about the environment, it’s about building intentional, resilient, and meaningful digital solutions that last beyond the next sprint.
As a Product Owner, I’ve come to see sustainable tech as more than a principle; it’s a practice. And in 2025, it’s defining how we shape products, prioritize work, and lead with purpose.
Sustainable Software = = Long-Term Value
Sustainable software is about much more than green hosting or carbon dashboards. It’s about creating products that are efficient, adaptable, inclusive, and maintainable over time.
In short:
- Efficient – Minimizing waste in infrastructure, delivery, and design.
- Responsible – Prioritizing ethical use, accessibility, and social impact.
- Future-ready – Built to evolve, scale, and serve long-term needs.
The result? Software that doesn’t just work today, but continues to serve real users, under real constraints, for years to come.
How We Put Sustainability into Practice
In our team, sustainability shows up in the small, deliberate decisions we make, from architecture and delivery to design and user feedback. Here’s how we put principles into action:
Configurable, Incremental Delivery
We ship features gradually, using feature flags and configuration layers to deliver with control and flexibility. This allows us to:
- Limit rollout to specific customer groups based on context or credentials.
- Run A/B tests and gather real-world feedback before full release.
- Quickly roll back if something doesn’t go as expected.
When we receive state-specific requirements, we don’t hard-code them. Instead, we implement them behind feature flags, making them reusable, maintainable, and adaptable for other use cases.
Inclusive, Resilient by Design
Sustainability means making our applications work well for everyone and everywhere:
- Our caching strategy minimizes unnecessary data flow and supports low-bandwidth users.
- We built offline capability into our mobile app to ensure access in remote or underserved areas, syncing data once connectivity returns.
- Even in our legacy JS UI, we maintain an ADA-compliant design, supporting screen readers and old
We think of this as designing for the persona spectrum, from power users to those with accessibility or connectivity constraints. Everyone deserves a reliable digital experience.
Usage-Led Product Decisions
We don’t just build features. We observe, learn, and refine. Using Gainsight PX, we:
- Track actual feature usage and adoption.
- Pause or retire features that don’t provide value.
- Create in-app guides and walkthroughs to support change adoption.
This reduces complexity, minimizes waste, and ensures we’re not maintaining features nobody uses. It also makes the product lighter, faster, and easier to navigate.
Environment-Supported Development Workflow
Our development process includes four key environments:
- DEV – Feature development.
- QA – Testing and validation.
- UAT – Used by client representatives and Customer Success Managers for pre-release testing.
- PROD – Production.
All environments support the same configuration logic, allowing us to test what the real experience will be, before users ever see it. This leads to smoother rollouts and fewer surprises.
Agile Practices Tailored for Sustainability
We balance flexibility and structure through our delivery process:
- Kanban boards help us quickly resolve production support tickets and urgent items.
- Scrum boards are used for new feature development and regression bugs, supporting iterative planning and sustainable pace.
This flexible approach keeps us responsive without sacrificing long-term planning or quality.
Sustainability Is the Standard Now
In 2025, we’re seeing the shift clearly: sustainable tech isn’t a trend, it’s the new standard.
It means slowing down just enough to ask better questions. Design with intention. Measuring what matters. Making space for reuse, inclusivity, and long-term growth.
Sustainability isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing the right things, the right way, for the right people.
And as Product Owners, we have the responsibility, and the opportunity, to lead the way.
Are You Building for Today, or Building to Last?
We’re helping teams rethink how they build—smarter, faster, and with the future in mind. If sustainable product development is on your radar in 2025, we’d love to chat. Whether you’re exploring ideas or ready to scale, we’re here to help you make it happen.
Curious how we do it? Let’s connect and build something that lasts.