I've spent over two decades doing some form of software product management, including in executive roles, consulting for, and partnering with companies including HP, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Viant Technology, and Viasat. Over those years, I've seen two significant trends: the shift towards data-driven, customer-centric decision-making, and the blurring lines between product management and other roles.

Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Decision Making

My career began in consulting at A.T. Kearney after grad school, working with product managers at HP in the 1990s. Back then, product management was much more about processes rather than understanding customers, and there were no continuous releases — products were either built or bought in one-time efforts.

In 2000, I co-founded Strategic Data Corp, an early AI ad-tech startup. Here, we frequently released updates to customer servers, necessitating the creation of our own agile processes. Customers came to us with various proposed features, and I had to uncover the common problems to create a unified roadmap.

When Myspace's parent company acquired us, I had my first encounter with data-driven, customer-centric decision-making. I started working alongside ex-Yahoo product managers and was introduced to user stories and worked with my first design team. User growth was critical.

As product management evolved, the emphasis shifted towards making decisions based on data and customer insights. Companies started using advanced analytics tools, such as Google Analytics and Mixpanel, to gather detailed insights into user behavior. This shift enabled the development of personalized experiences and ensured products met specific customer needs.

Agile methodologies facilitated this transformation by promoting iterative development based on customer feedback. Techniques like user personas, user stories, and usability testing became integral to the product development process, ensuring that products were intuitive and aligned with user expectations.

The Blurring of the Product Manager's Role

As the product management landscape evolved, roles that were once distinct began to overlap. Customer researchers, growth marketers, and even engineers started taking on responsibilities traditionally held by product managers. Design evolved from a focus on visual aesthetics to comprehensive product design using tools like Figma, which span problem identification to prototyping and final product coding.

This role splintering raises the question: Why have a product manager at all? There were definitely times that I felt threatened by having all of these other roles doing what I traditionally thought of as my job. But I realized the role really becomes about the success of the overall effort by combining three related responsibilities: coordinate various stakeholders to maintain support for product efforts, represent customer voices, and coalesce this into and circulate the resulting product roadmap.

This was never more evident than in my most recent role leading digital product efforts at Viasat, where I had to navigate conflicting demands from various executives and functions as we navigated instituting a modern product team approach.

Embracing Change

The dynamic nature of product management means that change is the only constant. Here are some current trends that can be seen as either threats or opportunities:

  • AI: While AI automates some responsibilities, leveraging it for data synthesis and content creation can give product managers a competitive edge.
  • Remote Work: Although it poses challenges, remote work allows companies to tap into global talent.
  • Ethics: Increasing demands for privacy, addressing AI bias, and ensuring product inclusivity present challenges but also opportunities to demonstrate ethical leadership.

Advice for Product Managers

In this environment, my advice to fellow product managers is to take accountability even when resources or authority seem lacking. Embrace data-driven thinking, show efficiency, and maintain enthusiasm to inspire your team.

Most importantly, stay curious. Whenever I've felt most confident about my knowledge, that's predictably when things went wrong. Always being on the lookout for new tools, approaches, and best practices is essential to thriving in this ever-evolving field.