Amaya Capellán: Delivering Product Experience through a DE&I Lens

As Vice President of Product Management, TPX, Amaya Capellán leads product experience through the Xfinity app. As a member of the LGBTQ community and a Latina woman, she takes pride in building diverse, talented teams. Learn more about Amaya in our recent interview below.

Q: You were recently promoted to VP. What do you oversee in your role?

A. “My team's mission is to deliver an extraordinary experience through the Xfinity app for our over 30 million customers and to also grow the number of people who choose to use the app because it’s a great experience. Many of our peers at Sky use the term ‘look after’ when referring to customer service. I love that, as it indicates how we as leaders are entrusted with this responsibility for our teams and our customers.”

Q. The Xfinity app is being redesigned to better meet the needs of Comcast customers. Can you talk a little about that process and what this means?

A. “The Xfinity app launched in September 2020, but it didn’t have the full functionality at the time. Since then, we’ve been progressively building in features to support the end-to-end servicing experience including our Xfinity Mobile features so that it’s all in one place for customers.

“Along the way, we’ve invested a lot of time listening to our customers and talking to them about their needs – to better understand what’s working for some and not for others. We want every customer, of all ages and abilities, to be able use the Xfinity app to have their ‘vital’ needs met and to get the most value out of the service. We're focused on making the app faster, more intuitive, better organized, and with features like ‘search.’

“So many great companies have ‘won’ by making their product experiences delightfully simple for everyone. It's why our voice remote is so loved, and it’s what we strive for with the Xfinity app.”

Q: What would you like to share about yourself that is an important part of your identity?

A. “I’m Latina, gay, and a woman. Those are three aspect of my identity that are fundamental to who I am. I’ve also straddled many experiences that don’t typically go together. For example, I’m a ‘city girl’ from Queens, NY whose Puerto Rican family is scattered across the U.S. and whose Spanish family has lived in a remote village in Spain for over a century. I was also raised Catholic and then married a Jewish woman – and we’ll be sending our 8-year-old son to a Hebrew school. My experiences give me a unique perspective and help me to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.”

Q: How has your background influenced your priorities as a leader?

A. “I've learned that interacting with people from different backgrounds doesn't mean that I can always personally relate their unique experiences, but it does open my eyes to the many ways people can have distinct lived experiences that impact how they approach every day, for better or for worse.

“As a product leader, I think having that perspective is so important. We're in the business of solving problems that are meaningful to our customers while also supporting business growth. When our teams represent the diversity of our user base, we're better positioned to understand the breadth of the problems our customers experience, not just the problems we see ourselves. Those are the product experiences that bring the most impact.

“As a people leader at Comcast, I also feel entrusted to identify diverse talent of all backgrounds and then provide them the exposure and best opportunities to advance in their careers.”

Q: Why is hiring diverse talent important to you?

A. “I recently attend the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR) conference where I was reminded, with some sobering statistics, that Latinos are extremely underrepresented in leadership roles in corporate America – both as executives and on boards – even though the talent exists.

“In the days after the conference, I was reflecting on my own experience, which has been a virtuous cycle of support in climbing to higher heights on the shoulders of others. I was inspired to create a personal purpose statement:

To be an influential leader who is a highly visible representation of my own diversity (Latina, gay, and female), leads with authenticity, drives impact to the business through diverse teams, mentors and coaches diverse talent to leadership roles, and serves as an engaged champion of diversity programs and communities at Comcast.”

Q: What makes you passionate about your work?

A. “The scale of impact that we can have on our customers – and on people’s careers. At Comcast, we’re evolving the culture of collaboration within the company and really leaning into diversity and bringing people together to do great things.”