The product owner, a newly appointed VP, refuses to engage the CTO despite functional requirements that conflict with the CTO's strategy. What should the project manager do?

The project manager's role is to facilitate collaboration and ensure project success. Influencing the product owner to engage the CTO directly addresses the conflict and leverages the product owner's authority to resolve it. This proactive approach prevents future issues and aligns the project with organizational strategy. Advising the CTO directly bypasses the product owner and could undermine their authority, potentially escalating the conflict rather than resolving it collaboratively. Continuing to build the backlog without addressing the conflict ignores a critical risk that could lead to significant rework or project failure. Reviewing OPAs is a good practice but doesn't directly resolve the immediate stakeholder conflict; it's a supporting activity, not the primary solution.