Category: Product

Beyond Busywork: Rethinking Productivity in Product Development

We have all seen the dashboards: velocity charts, commit counts, ticket throughput.
They make for tidy reports. They look great in an executive update. But let’s be honest, do they actually tell us if our teams are building the right things, in the right way, at the right time?

A recent Hacker News discussion, “Let’s stop pretending that managers and executives care about productivity”, hit a nerve. It pointed out a hard truth: too often, “productivity” is measured by what is easy to count rather than what actually matters. For technology leaders, this raises a critical question: are we optimizing for activity or for impact?

Before we can improve how we measure productivity, we first need to understand why so many traditional metrics fall short. Many organisations start with good intentions, tracking indicators that seem logical on the surface. Over time, these measures can drift away from reflecting real business value and instead become targets in their own right. This is where the gap emerges between looking productive and actually creating outcomes that matter.

We have seen this play out in practice. Atlassian warns on relying heavily on raw JIRA velocity scores when they realized it encouraged teams to inflate story point estimates rather than improve delivery outcomes. Google’s engineering teams have spoken about the risk of “metric gaming” and have stressed the importance of pairing speed indicators with measures of impact and reliability.

Why Shallow Metrics Fail

Several years ago, I was in a leadership meeting where a project was declared a success because the team had delivered 30% more story points than the previous quarter. On paper, it was an impressive jump. In reality, those features did not move the needle on adoption, customer satisfaction, or revenue. We had measured output, not outcome.

High-functioning teams do not just ship more. They deliver meaningful business value. That is where our measurement frameworks need to evolve.

DORA Metrics: A Better Starting Point

The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) group has done extensive research to identify four key metrics that balance speed and stability:

  1. Deployment Frequency – How often you deploy code to production.
  2. Lead Time for Changes – How quickly a change moves from code commit to production.
  3. Change Failure Rate – How often deployments cause a failure in production.
  4. Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR) – How fast you recover from a failure.

These are powerful because they connect process efficiency with system reliability. For example, I joined a project that was deploying only once a quarter. While this schedule reduced change risk, it also created long lead times for customer-facing features and made responding to feedback painfully slow. Over the course of six months, we incrementally improved our processes, automated more of our testing, and streamlined our release management. The result was moving to a two-week deployment cycle, which allowed the team to deliver value faster, respond to market needs more effectively, and reduce the risk of large-scale release failures by making changes smaller and more manageable.

The caution: if you treat DORA as a leaderboard, you will get teams “optimizing” metrics in ways that undermine quality. Used correctly, they are a diagnostic tool, not a performance scorecard.

Connecting DORA to Business Outcomes

For technology leaders, DORA metrics should not exist in isolation. They are most valuable when they are tied to business results that the board cares about.

  • Deployment Frequency is not just about speed, it is about how quickly you can respond to market shifts, regulatory changes, or customer feedback.
  • Lead Time for Changes impacts time-to-revenue for new features and directly affects competitive advantage.
  • Change Failure Rate affects customer trust and brand reputation, both of which have measurable financial consequences.
  • MTTR influences client retention, contractual SLAs, and the ability to contain operational risk.

When framed this way, engineering leaders can make the case that improving DORA scores is not just a technical goal, but a growth and risk mitigation strategy. This connection between delivery performance and commercial outcomes is what elevates technology from a support function to a strategic driver.

Innovative Metrics to Watch

Forward-thinking companies are experimenting with new ways to measure productivity:

  • Diff Authoring Time (DAT) – Used at Meta, this tracks how long engineers spend authoring a change. In one experiment, compiler optimisations improved DAT by 33%, freeing up engineering cycles for higher-value work.
  • Return on Time Invested (ROTI) – A simple but powerful concept: for every hour spent, what is the measurable return? This is especially useful in evaluating internal meetings, process reviews, or new tool adoption.

The Pitfalls of Over-Measurement

There is a dark side to metrics. Wired recently called out the “toxic” productivity obsession in tech where every keystroke is tracked and performance is reduced to a spreadsheet. It is a quick path to burnout, attrition, and short-term thinking.

As leaders, our job is not to watch the clock. It is to create an environment where talented people can do their best work, sustainably.

Takeaway

Productivity in product development is not about being busy. It is about delivering lasting value.
Use DORA as a starting point, augment it with reliability, developer experience, and business outcome metrics, and experiment with emerging measures like DAT and ROTI. But always remember: metrics are there to inform, not to define, your team’s worth.

Thoughts

The best technology organizations measure what matters, discard vanity metrics, and connect engineering performance directly to business value. Metrics like DORA, when used thoughtfully, help teams identify bottlenecks and improve delivery. Innovative measures such as DAT and ROTI push our understanding of productivity further, but they only work in cultures that value trust and sustainability. As technology leaders, our challenge is to ensure that our measurement practices inspire better work rather than simply more work.

Why Technical Priorities Consistently Get Pushed Aside Without Clear Business Value?

There’s a tough reality facing engineering teams everywhere: technical priorities consistently get pushed aside when they aren’t clearly linked to business value. We see this pattern again and again. Teams raise concerns about technical debt, system architecture, or code quality, only to have those concerns deprioritized in favor of visible business initiatives.

The problem isn’t a lack of understanding from leadership or CTOs. Instead, the real challenge lies in how we communicate the importance of technical work. When the business impact isn’t clear, technical projects become easy to delay or ignore, even when they are critical for long-term success.

To shift this dynamic, technologists need to translate technical needs into measurable business outcomes. Only then do our priorities get the attention and investment they deserve.

The Real Challenge: Bridging the Business-Technology Divide

Too often, technical teams speak their own language. We say, “We need better observability,” and leadership hears, “More dashboards for tech’s sake.” We argue for automated testing, and management hears, “You want to slow us down.” The disconnect is clear. Technical needs get ignored unless we connect them to measurable business outcomes.

This isn’t just anecdotal. Charity Majors, CTO at Honeycomb, puts it simply:
“If you can’t connect your work to business value, you’re not going to get buy-in.”

Similarly, The Pragmatic Engineer notes that the most effective engineers are those who translate technical decisions into business impact.

Reframing Technical Work: From Features to Business Outcomes

Technical excellence is not an end in itself. It is a lever for achieving business goals. The key is to frame our technical priorities in language that resonates with business leaders. Here are some examples:

  • Observability:
    • Tech speak: “We need better observability.”
    • Business outcome: “Our customers reported outages. Enhanced observability helps us detect and fix issues before clients are impacted, cutting response time in half.”
  • Automated Testing:
    • Tech speak: “Let’s add more automated tests.”
    • Business outcome: “Recent critical bugs delayed product launches. Automated testing helps us catch issues earlier, so we deliver on time.”
  • Infrastructure as Code:
    • Tech speak: “We should automate infrastructure.”
    • Business outcome: “Manual setup takes days. With infrastructure as code, we can onboard new clients in minutes, using fewer resources.”

Supporting Reference:
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps shows that elite engineering teams connect technical practices such as automation and observability directly to improved business performance, faster deployments, fewer failures, and happier customers.

The Business Value of Code Quality

When we talk about refactoring, testing, or reducing technical debt, we must quantify the benefits in business terms:

  • Faster time-to-market: Better code quality and automation mean quicker releases, leading to competitive advantage. (Martin Fowler on Refactoring)
  • Lower support costs: Reliable systems and early bug detection lead to fewer incidents and reduced customer complaints. (InfoQ on Technical Debt)
  • Employee efficiency: Automating manual tasks lets teams focus on innovation, not firefighting.

Google’s DORA research (State of DevOps Report) consistently shows that organizations aligning technical practices with business goals outperform their peers.

Actionable Takeaways: How to Make Technical Work Matter

  1. Speak in Outcomes:
    Always explain how technical decisions impact revenue, customer satisfaction, or risk.
  2. Quantify the Impact:
    Use metrics. For example, “This change will save X hours per month,” or, “This will reduce client onboarding from days to minutes.”
  3. Connect to Business Goals:
    Align your technical arguments with the company’s strategic priorities such as growth, retention, efficiency, or compliance.
  4. Reference External Proof:
    Bring in supporting research and case studies to back up your proposals. (ThoughtWorks: The Business Value of DevOps)

Summary

The most influential engineers and technologists are those who relentlessly tie their work to business outcomes. Technical excellence is a business multiplier, not a checkbox. The real challenge is ensuring every technical priority is translated into language that leadership understands and values.

The question we should all ask:
How are we connecting our technical decisions to measurable business results?

Further Reading

#EngineeringLeadership #CTO #CIO #ProductStrategy

Financial Metrics Beyond CapEx and OpEx: A CTO’s Essential Guide

For CTOs, CIOs, and technology leaders, mastering the financial language of the business is crucial. This fluency not only empowers informed decision-making but also ensures you communicate effectively with executive peers, investors, and board members. While CapEx (Capital Expenditures) and OpEx (Operational Expenditures) are commonly discussed, technology leaders must understand additional financial metrics to truly drive business success.

Key Financial Metrics Technology Leaders Should Know:

1. Gross Margin (GM%)

  • Definition: Revenue minus the cost of goods sold (COGS), expressed as a percentage.
  • Example: A SaaS company generates $10M in revenue with $4M in direct technology and hosting costs, yielding a GM% of 60%.
  • Importance: Indicates efficiency in service delivery and informs pricing strategies.
  • Tech Link: Optimize infrastructure efficiency to boost GM%. Technology improvements such as automation and efficient architecture reduce direct costs. Regularly report these efficiency gains to demonstrate impact.
  • Further Reading

2. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA)

  • Definition: A measure of a company’s overall financial performance and profitability.
  • Example: Investing in automation reduces manual labor, improving EBITDA by lowering operating expenses.
  • Importance: Frequently used by investors, especially in Private Equity.
  • Tech Link: Automation and efficiency projects directly improve EBITDA. Clearly document savings and incremental EBITDA impact in regular reports.
  • Further Reading

3. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

  • Definition: Predictable annual revenue from subscription-based services.
  • Example: A SaaS company with 100 customers each paying $10,000 annually has an ARR of $1M.
  • Importance: Provides predictability of revenue, crucial for growth forecasting.
  • Tech Link: Technology enhancements that improve customer retention directly boost ARR. Report on retention and churn metrics linked to technology improvements.
  • Further Reading

4. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

  • Definition: Predictable monthly revenue from subscription-based services.
  • Example: 500 customers each paying $100 monthly equals $50,000 MRR.
  • Importance: Vital for short-term forecasting and agile business adjustments.
  • Tech Link: Regular technology updates that enhance user experience help maintain and increase MRR. Report monthly changes linked to technology deployments.
  • Further Reading

5. Annual Contract Value (ACV)

  • Definition: The average annual revenue per customer contract.
  • Example: A new enterprise client signs a 3-year deal worth $600,000, resulting in an ACV of $200,000.
  • Importance: Helps measure and forecast revenue stability and client value.
  • Tech Link: Tech solutions that enable upselling and increased client value directly impact ACV. Regularly track and report ACV impacts from feature enhancements.
  • Further Reading

6. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

  • Definition: Total revenue a company expects from a single customer over time.
  • Example: Improving platform usability to extend customer retention boosts LTV.
  • Importance: Demonstrates long-term customer profitability.
  • Tech Link: Measure and report the impact of technology on extending customer retention and revenue per user.
  • Further Reading

7. Burn Rate

  • Definition: Rate at which a company uses cash, typically in startups.
  • Example: A startup spending $200K monthly with $1M cash on hand has a 5-month runway.
  • Importance: Crucial for managing funding and operational sustainability.
  • Tech Link: Technology efficiency and cost management directly reduce burn rate. Regularly monitor and report cost-saving initiatives and their impact on burn rate.
  • Further Reading

8. Return on Investment (ROI)

  • Definition: Measures profitability of an investment.
  • Example: Cloud migration yielding $500K annual savings from a $1M investment offers a 50% annual ROI.
  • Importance: Validates technology spending by demonstrating financial returns.
  • Tech Link: Frame and track technology investments clearly in ROI terms.
  • Further Reading

9. Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)

  • Definition: Annualized average rate of revenue growth over a specific period.
  • Example: Growth from $1M to $4M over four years represents a CAGR of approximately 41%.
  • Importance: Indicates business scalability and growth trajectory.
  • Tech Link: Report how product enhancements and scalability directly impact CAGR.
  • Further Reading

Considerations for Private Equity (PE) -backed Companies:

PE firms prioritize efficiency, EBITDA, and rapid ROI. Focus on clear cost reduction, operational efficiency, and short payback periods, demonstrating immediate and measurable technology impacts.

Considerations for Venture Capital (VC)-backed Companies:

VC-backed companies emphasize ARR, MRR, growth metrics like CAC and LTV, and burn rate management. Clearly demonstrate technology’s role in accelerating growth, enhancing customer retention, and controlling burn rate.

Considerations for Public Companies:

Public companies prioritize consistent revenue growth, profitability, regulatory compliance, and transparency. Technology leaders must focus on clear reporting, compliance measures, and technology-driven growth that aligns with shareholder interests.

Considerations for Privately Held Companies:

Privately held firms value long-term stability, sustainable growth, cash flow, and cost control. Technology initiatives must emphasize predictable financial outcomes, stability, and prudent investments.

Summary

Understanding and demonstrating your contribution to financial metrics beyond CapEx and OpEx empowers technology leaders to drive impactful decisions, communicate clearly with stakeholders, and align technology strategies with business objectives. Your fluency in these metrics enhances your value as a strategic business leader.

#CTO #CIO #CPO #FinancialMetrics #ProductStrategy

Brand vs. Price: What Product Managers Need to Understand

In product management, we often obsess over features, user stories, and roadmaps. But the most strategic conversations often center around two deceptively simple questions: How much should we charge? and What do people think we’re worth? These two questions cut to the heart of the relationship between brand and price, a relationship every product leader must learn to navigate.

Brand and Price Are Not Separate Tracks

Too often, brand is viewed as a marketing function and price as a finance lever. But in reality, they are deeply interconnected. Your brand defines perceived value, and your price captures it.

If your product is seen as premium, strategic, or mission-critical, you can justify higher pricing, lower churn, and even slower delivery cycles. If your brand is weak or undifferentiated, you may find yourself in a race to the bottom, competing primarily on features and discounts.

How Brand Impacts Product Strategy

A strong brand gives product managers room to:

  • Delay commoditization. Apple’s iPhone rarely leads in specs but consistently leads in margins.
  • Build for long-term value. Atlassian’s success came from building utility over time, not hype at launch.
  • Design pricing tiers around perceived value. Notion and Figma used design and UX to justify professional pricing, even with freemium entry points.

How Pricing Shapes Brand Perception

Pricing is not just a revenue tactic. It is also a clear statement of positioning.

  • Zoom vs. Google Meet. Zoom priced higher and leaned into reliability and enterprise readiness. Meet was bundled into G Suite, signaling simplicity and convenience.
  • Airtable vs. Excel. Airtable’s polished experience and higher per-seat cost suggest modernity and innovation, compared to Excel’s utilitarian legacy.

Low pricing can diminish perceived value. Overpricing without strong brand signals can drive away potential customers. Product teams must ensure that pricing reflects strategic intent, not just cost or competitor benchmarks.

A Framework for Brand and Price Alignment

To align brand and price through product decisions, ask yourself:

  1. What does our target market value most: price, prestige, reliability, or speed?
  2. Does our current roadmap reinforce our brand promise or contradict it?
  3. Are we bundling and pricing in ways that strengthen our market position?
  4. How does our pricing compare to our competitors, and what does that say about us?

Examples in Action:

  • Slack offers free team versions and usage-based pricing, reinforcing its identity as a friendly, accessible work tool.
  • Salesforce embraces premium and complex pricing that reinforces its reputation as the enterprise standard.
  • Linear maintains a minimalist, premium feel by carefully curating its features and emphasizing speed over bloat.

The Role of Growth Teams

Growth teams act as the connective tissue between product, marketing, and revenue. They provide valuable insights into how users perceive brand and respond to pricing.

  • Conversion data highlights where perceived value breaks down. If users drop off at the paywall, the issue may be the mismatch between expectation and price.
  • Pricing experiments validate assumptions. Growth teams can test package structures and feature gates to learn what resonates.
  • Brand-led growth loops, like Superhuman’s invite-only onboarding or Notion’s template ecosystem, build perceived value without discounting.

In many cases, growth teams help product managers answer the hardest question: Do people value what we’ve built enough to pay for it?

Final Thought

Brand and price are not just marketing or finance concerns. They are fundamental to how your product is designed, delivered, and perceived. Every roadmap decision and packaging choice shapes how customers see your value.

Great product leaders do more than ship features. They shape perception, define value, and build trust through intentional design and strategic pricing.

#ProductStrategy #CPO #CTO #CIO

From Golden Records to Golden Insights: AI Agents Redefining Enterprise Data

The traditional Golden Record, once seen as the pinnacle of enterprise data management and unifying customer, employee, and asset data into a single authoritative truth, is rapidly becoming a legacy pattern. Today, enterprises are shifting towards a more dynamic concept known as the Golden Source, a foundational layer of continuously validated data from which AI Agents generate real-time, actionable Golden Insights.

The Shift from Golden Records to Golden Sources

Historically, enterprises relied on centralized Master Data Management (MDM) or Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to maintain static golden records. However, these rigid data structures fail to meet the demands of real-time decision-making and agility required by modern businesses.

Now, organizations adopt a more fluid Golden Source, where data remains continuously updated, validated, and accessible in real-time, allowing AI agents to act dynamically and generate immediate, context-rich insights.

AI Agents: Catalysts of Golden Insights

AI agents leverage real-time data from Golden Sources to provide actionable, predictive, and prescriptive insights:

  • Hightouch’s data activation rapidly resolves identity and enriches customer data directly from the Golden Source, empowering agents to instantly deliver personalized interactions (Hightouch).
  • Salesforce’s Data Cloud and Agentforce continuously analyze data streams from a Golden Source, delivering dynamic insights for sales, service, and marketing (Salesforce).

AI agents no longer rely solely on static data snapshots; instead, they generate real-time Golden Insights, informing instant decision-making and workflow automation.

Impact on Enterprise SaaS Solutions

HRIS (Workday)

Workday’s Agent System of Record exemplifies the transition from static employee records to dynamic, real-time insights. Agents proactively manage payroll, onboarding, and compliance using immediate insights drawn directly from an always-updated Golden Source (Workday).

CRMs (Salesforce)

Salesforce leverages its Data Cloud as a dynamic Golden Source. AI agents continuously analyze customer data streams, generating immediate insights that drive autonomous sales outreach and customer support actions.

Enterprise Implications

  1. Dynamic Decision-Making: Enterprises gain agility through real-time Golden Insights, enabling rapid response to market conditions and customer behaviors.
  2. Enhanced Agility and Flexibility: Continuous validation and enrichment of data sources allow businesses to swiftly adapt their strategies based on current insights rather than historical data.
  3. Improved Operational Intelligence: AI agents provide actionable insights in real-time, significantly improving operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Strategic Implications for SaaS Providers: Securing Data Moats

Major SaaS providers such as Salesforce and Workday are embracing the shift from static Golden Records to dynamic Golden Sources to strengthen and preserve their data moats. By embedding these real-time capabilities deeply into their platforms, these providers:

  • Enhance their platform’s value, reinforcing customer dependency.
  • Increase switching costs for enterprises, maintaining long-term customer retention.
  • Position themselves as indispensable partners, central to their customers’ data-driven decision-making processes.

Recommended Actions

StakeholderRecommendations
EnterprisesTransition from static Golden Records to dynamic Golden Sources to enable real-time, actionable insights. Prioritize agile data governance.
Salesforce/WorkdayAccelerate the adoption and promotion of dynamic Golden Source strategies, integrating deeper AI capabilities to maintain competitive differentiation.
Other SaaS VendorsInnovate beyond legacy MDM models by building flexible, interoperable data platforms capable of generating immediate Golden Insights.

✨ Final Thoughts

The evolution from static Golden Records to dynamic Golden Sources and real-time Golden Insights powered by AI agents signifies a transformational shift in enterprise data management. This transition enables enterprises to move from reactive to proactive decision-making, resulting in increased agility, improved customer experiences, and higher operational efficiency. Moreover, it opens the door to innovative business models such as predictive and proactive services, subscription-based insights, and outcome-driven partnerships where real-time data and insights directly contribute to measurable business outcomes. Enterprises embracing this shift are well-positioned to capture significant competitive advantages in the evolving digital landscape.

🔗 Further Reading

The Hidden Superpower in Product Teams: Reverse Mentoring

In most organizations, mentorship flows in one direction. Seasoned professionals guide those earlier in their careers. But as the pace of technology accelerates and the definition of a “well-rounded” product leader evolves, a different kind of mentorship is proving just as valuable: reverse mentoring.

What Is Reverse Mentoring?

Reverse mentoring flips the traditional model. Junior employees, often digital natives or early-career technologists, share insights, tools, and perspectives with more senior colleagues. This is not just about helping executives stay current. It is about creating stronger, more adaptable teams that are built for the future of work.

Why It Matters for Technologists

Product and engineering leaders are expected to stay ahead of emerging tools, platforms, and user behaviors. But no one can track everything. Reverse mentoring creates an intentional space for learning, helping experienced technologists gain hands-on exposure to:

  • New frameworks, SDKs, or platforms gaining traction in developer communities
  • AI and automation tools that are transforming workflows in real time
  • Evolving patterns in UX, content consumption, and digital-native behaviors
  • Fresh takes on developer experience, open-source contributions, and rapid prototyping

This is not theoretical. For example, a Gen Z engineer may introduce a staff engineer to AI-assisted coding tools like Cody or explain how community platforms like Discord are changing the expectations of online collaboration.

Tailoring Reverse Mentoring by Role

Not all reverse mentoring relationships look the same. The value and approach should be shaped by the context of each role:

  • Engineers benefit from reverse mentoring focused on emerging technologies, open-source tools, and new development paradigms. Their junior counterparts often experiment more freely and bring fresh coding philosophies or automation hacks that can streamline legacy workflows.
  • Designers can benefit from exposure to trends in mobile-first design, motion graphics, or inclusive UX principles. Junior creatives often stay closer to the cultural edge, drawing inspiration from social platforms and newer creative tools that can reinvigorate design thinking.
  • Product Managers gain a better understanding of digital-native user behavior, evolving collaboration expectations, and the tools preferred by frontline teams. This insight can make roadmaps more relevant, communication more effective, and prioritization more grounded in reality.

Reverse mentoring should not be one-size-fits-all. A successful program considers each role’s unique learning edge and opportunities for growth.

Challenges and Cautions

While reverse mentoring brings many benefits, it is not without its challenges:

  • Power Dynamics: Junior employees may hesitate to be fully candid. Without psychological safety, reverse mentoring can become performative rather than productive.
  • Time and Commitment: Both parties need dedicated time and a structure for the relationship to work. Ad-hoc meetings tend to lose momentum quickly.
  • Misaligned Expectations: If either party expects immediate results or treats the relationship as a one-way knowledge transfer, the impact will be limited.
  • Cultural Resistance: In some organizations, hierarchies are deeply ingrained. Shifting the perception that learning only flows upward takes deliberate leadership support.

To succeed, reverse mentoring must be treated with the same intention as any leadership or development initiative. Clear objectives, feedback loops, and ongoing support are key.

Building the Next Generation of Leaders

Reverse mentoring is more than a tactical learning tool. It is a leadership accelerator.

For senior employees, it builds curiosity, adaptability, and humility. These are traits that are increasingly critical for leading modern teams. For junior employees, it cultivates confidence, communication skills, and exposure to strategic thinking far earlier in their careers than traditional paths allow.

Embedding reverse mentoring into your product and engineering culture creates a stronger leadership bench at every level. It also signals to your organization that learning is not a function of age or title. It is a function of mindset and engagement.

The Bottom Line

In an industry focused on what comes next, reverse mentoring helps technologists and product organizations stay grounded, relevant, and connected. It is not just a nice-to-have. It is a strategic advantage.

It may feel unconventional. But in the world of innovation, that is often where the magic begins.

#ProductLeadership #ReverseMentoring #TechLeadership #FutureOfWork #MentorshipMatters #EngineeringLeadership #ProductManagement #TeamCulture #NextGenLeaders #CareerDevelopment #DigitalTransformation #AIandTech #InclusiveLeadership #OrganizationalCulture

Bridging Constraints and Objectives with Data in Product Launches

Launching a new product means navigating tension: bold objectives on one side, and real-world constraints on the other. You want to move fast, deliver value, and stand out in the market, but you’re held back by resource limits, compliance requirements, and fixed deadlines. The difference between vision and execution? It’s often how well you use data to connect the two.

Why Data is the Bridge

Data enables product leaders to:

  • Quantify what’s possible within given limits
  • Align stakeholders on the tradeoffs that matter
  • Validate market assumptions before committing to scale
  • Convert ambiguity into informed action

Used well, data doesn’t just guide, you de-risk your decisions with it.

1. Use Data to Define the Real Constraints

Most teams understand their high-level constraints: budget, time, people. But data can help you go deeper and quantify the impact of those constraints.

  • Burn rate models estimate how far your current budget takes you.
  • Headcount capacity planning identifies delivery bottlenecks.
  • Compliance risk scoring can uncover which features require the most red tape.

Then, tie constraints to revenue impact:

  • Revenue impact modeling shows what features or launches are delayed and how that delay affects potential earnings.
  • For example, if a delayed feature defers onboarding 1,000 users per month at a $50 average revenue/user, you can quantify that tradeoff: $50,000/month in deferred revenue.

Action tip: Frame constraint discussions around their revenue implications to drive smarter tradeoffs.

2. Translate Objectives into Measurable Signals

Ambitious goals like “win the mid-market” or “increase retention” need clear, data-backed definitions:

  • Use market sizing data to break down total addressable market (TAM), serviceable obtainable market (SOM), and key buyer personas.
  • Map strategic goals (e.g., “expand to EMEA”) to product KPIs (e.g., time-to-localization, conversion rates by region).
  • Use customer segmentation data to align objectives with where the most revenue or growth potential exists.

Action tip: Create a “data-to-objective map” that connects strategic goals to specific, quantifiable signals in your product analytics.

3. Use Data to Understand Market Fit Early

Product success hinges on whether it meets a real market need, and whether that market is worth entering.

  • Search trends, competitor pricing, and customer spend data can help validate demand before investing.
  • Use tools like Google Trends, LinkedIn job postings, or firmographic data to identify which markets are growing or underserved.
  • Analyze customer willingness-to-pay surveys and early funnel data (e.g., demo conversion rates) to refine positioning.

Action tip: Layer third-party data with internal early signals to triangulate real market opportunity before full launch.

4. Apply Data to Prioritize Tradeoffs Transparently

Every product decision requires a tradeoff. But data helps you make those tradeoffs visible, quantifiable, and less political.

  • Run feature impact simulations to model revenue uplift vs development time.
  • Use churn data to highlight which constraints (e.g., lack of functionality, latency, onboarding friction) are losing you customers.
  • Score roadmap options by business value per unit of effort to prioritize efficiently.

Action tip: Build a tradeoff matrix that pairs data with decision velocity, so leadership can move with confidence, not caution.

5. Align Stakeholders with Shared Data Visibility

Cross-functional stakeholders often have competing priorities. Data helps unify focus around outcomes, not opinions.

  • Build shared dashboards that track both constraint metrics (e.g., spend, velocity) and objective metrics (e.g., adoption, revenue).
  • Use visual storytelling to show the downstream effects of decisions, such as how one-month delays reduce first-year revenue projections by X%.

Action tip: Establish a shared “north star” metric that links product, revenue, and operational perspectives.

6. Use Feedback Loops to Navigate Uncertainty

Post-launch, data is your compass. Assumptions will shift, and your ability to adapt fast will determine your success.

  • Monitor early adoption and feature usage data to refine roadmap priorities.
  • Use voice of customer data to catch friction points before churn accelerates.
  • Track changes in market or competitor data to stay ahead of disruption.

Action tip: Treat every launch like an ongoing experiment, use data to validate, not just to report.

Thoughts

Taking a product to market is a balancing act. The most successful leaders aren’t just bold, they’re informed. They use data to quantify the real constraints, validate the market opportunity, and continuously weigh tradeoffs against business value.

If you want to move faster, align better, and launch smarter, ask yourself: Where can data help me bridge the gap between what I want to do and what I actually can do?

#ProductStrategy #CTO #CPO #CIO

Rethinking Product Strategy in the Age of Data Products

As digital transformation matures, data is no longer just a byproduct of applications; it is the product. Yet many organizations still manage data with outdated, project-centric mindsets, treating it as an output rather than a reusable, consumable asset. For organizations, the shift toward data products marks a fundamental change in how we manage technology, deliver value, and structure teams.

What Are Data Products?

A data product is a curated, governed, and reusable dataset or service, packaged with the same discipline you would expect from a traditional software product. It is built to be consumed, not just stored. Whether it’s an API delivering real-time customer metrics, a dataset powering a machine learning model, or a dashboard-ready feed of financial KPIs, a data product is intentionally designed to be discoverable, trusted, and self-serviceable by internal or external stakeholders.

Unlike application products, which focus on user interfaces and direct interaction, data products are focused on enabling decision-making, automation, or downstream systems.

Technical Anatomy of a Data Product

To operate at enterprise scale, a data product must have:

  • Domain Ownership – Aligned to a business domain to ensure context-rich data delivery and accountability
  • Interface Contracts – Defined APIs, SQL endpoints, event streams, or file exports for integration
  • Metadata & Documentation – Data dictionaries, lineage tracking, and guides that reduce friction
  • Embedded Quality Controls – Automated tests, monitoring, and freshness SLAs to build trust
  • Governance & Compliance – Integrated privacy, security, and data classification from the start
  • Observability – Usage tracking, access logging, and lineage monitoring for accountability and auditability

Why Data Products Are Not Just Another Application

While traditional applications focus on user-facing features, data products are fundamentally different:

CharacteristicApplication ProductData Product
Primary UserEnd usersSystems, analysts, models, APIs
Value GenerationThrough interactionThrough consumption and reuse
Design CenterUX, workflows, featuresData quality, access, lineage
Change ImpactLocalized to appRipple effects across multiple products and domains
LifecycleFeature-driven releasesFreshness, versioning, schema evolution

You are no longer building tools for users. You are building infrastructure for insights.

Embedding Data Products into the Product Management Landscape

To manage data products effectively, product management principles must evolve:

  • Cross-Functional Teams – Combine data engineers, domain experts, analysts, and governance specialists
  • Success Metrics – Shift from delivery-based KPIs (e.g., “dataset completed”) to outcomes like “customer churn reduced” or “model accuracy improved”
  • Iterative Lifecycle – Account for ongoing updates based on new sources, schema changes, or regulatory needs
  • Backlog Management – Engage directly with data consumers to prioritize changes and new features
  • Product Funding Model – Transition from project-based funding to sustained investment in reusable data capabilities

Why Data Products Matter, and Where They Fit in Your Strategy

Data products are not a side effort. They are foundational to a modern digital strategy. As organizations pursue AI, personalization, workflow automation, and advanced analytics, data becomes the fuel. But without structured, scalable, and governed data products, these initiatives stall.

In your technology strategy, data products operate between infrastructure and applications:

  • They are powered by your cloud and data platforms, but are more than raw storage layers
  • They serve product teams by enabling better features, personalization, and automation
  • They bridge silos by powering use cases across customer experience, operations, compliance, and beyond
  • They are core to platform strategies, enabling consistent and governed data usage across an ecosystem of tools and services

Organizations that understand and invest in this role will move faster, deliver more value, and compete based on intelligence rather than features alone.

Executive Checklist: Are You Productizing Your Data?

Ask yourself:

✅ Is every major domain accountable for a set of documented, consumable data products?
✅ Are data products discoverable through a central catalog or self-service platform?
✅ Do you fund teams to manage and evolve data assets continuously?
✅ Are consumption, freshness, and quality metrics actively tracked and reported?
✅ Do AI, reporting, and integration use cases rely on curated, trusted data products?

If several of these answers are “no,” it may be time to rethink your data strategy.

Conclusion

Data products are the connective tissue of modern digital businesses. Treating them with the same rigor and intentionality as traditional software is no longer optional. It is essential. As technology leaders, we must ensure that data is not just collected, but curated, governed, and delivered in ways that power the business, on demand, at scale, and with confidence.

#DataProducts #CIO #CTO #DigitalTransformation #AIEnablement #ProductStrategy #EnterpriseArchitecture #DataGovernance #ProductManagement #ModernDataStack #PlatformThinking

Timing the AI Wave: The Risk of Being Too Early vs Too Late

Is your organization at risk of being too early to the AI party, or too late to matter?

Is your organization sprinting toward AI adoption or inching along the sidelines? Both extremes can crush value. Act before the tech or market is ready and you burn capital. Wait for perfect clarity and competitors pass you by. Winning leaders master the sweet spot: they experiment early, but only where there is a credible path to profitable revenue, and they bake in a clear stop-loss if results do not materialize.

What History Teaches About Timing

Think of innovation history as a long-running movie about timing. Some players burst onto the screen too early, winning applause from futurists but empty wallets from buyers. Others arrive fashionably late, discovering the party has moved to a cooler venue. Only a few walk in just as the music peaks, cash in hand and product in pocket.

  • Apple Newton vs. iPhone: Newton proved the concept years too soon; the iPhone launched when components, networks, and consumer behaviors aligned.
  • GM EV1 vs. Tesla: GM’s electric pioneer lacked charging infrastructure and market demand; Tesla timed its debut with falling battery costs and eco-tailwinds.
  • Blockbuster vs. Netflix: Streaming looked niche until broadband became ubiquitous. Blockbuster hesitated and lost the market it once owned.
  • IBM Watson vs. ChatGPT: Watson dazzled on Jeopardy! but struggled to generalize, whereas ChatGPT struck when intuitive chat interfaces met broad public curiosity.

The pattern is clear: an early mover wins only when the surrounding ecosystem can sustain scalable, profitable growth.

From Anecdote to Action: A Readiness Framework

It is easy to point at cautionary tales, but far harder to decide “Should we jump now?” In executive war rooms worldwide, that single question dominates slide decks and budget debates. Before you write the next check, pause at four gates:

  1. Strategic Fit: Does AI solve a mission-critical problem or merely scratch an innovation itch?
  2. Market Maturity: Are peers already generating ROI, or are most use cases still proofs of concept?
  3. Organizational Capacity: Do you have clean data, sound governance, and talent that understands both AI and the business domain?
  4. Risk Appetite & Governance: Can you fund controlled pilots and shut them down quickly if metrics fall short?

Passing through all four gates does not guarantee success, but skipping any one is like building a bridge without the middle span.

When Being Early Is a Feature, Not a Bug

If your answers came back green, congratulations, you may be ready to step out in front. Early, however, is not synonymous with reckless. The smartest pioneers tie their boldness to a fiscal seat belt:

  • Profitable Revenue Roadmap: Draft a line of sight to margin-positive performance within a set horizon.
  • Stop-Loss Trigger: Commit to KPIs and a sunset date. If adoption, cost, or risk thresholds are not met, shelve or pivot.
  • Iterative Funding: Release capital in stages tied to hard milestones, limiting downside while preserving speed.

These constraints may sound unromantic, yet they keep early bets from turning into bottomless pits.

Knowing When to Stop

Even the best pilots can stall. Leaders who cling to pride projects burn cash that could have powered the next winner. Watch for four flashing red lights:

  • Stalling Traction: User adoption plateaus despite targeted change-management pushes.
  • Shifting Economics: Compute, data, or compliance costs erode projected margins.
  • Strategic Drift: The pilot’s goals diverge from core business priorities.
  • Better Alternatives: New vendors or open-source models deliver the same value faster or cheaper.

Institute quarterly go-or-no-go reviews; retire or repurpose any initiative that fails two consecutive health checks. Capital freed today funds tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

Moving From Concept to Cash: Three Steps

Once the green lights stay on, it is time to leave PowerPoint and hit the factory floor:

  1. Prioritize High-Value Use Cases: Hunt for pain points with measurable upside such as cycle-time reduction, revenue lift, or cost savings.
  2. Run Controlled Pilots: Use real data and real users. Measure ruthlessly and iterate weekly.
  3. Scale What Works: When KPIs prove profitable potential, invest in robust data pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and upskilling.

These steps look simple on paper and feel grueling in practice; disciplined execution is exactly what separates AI winners from headline chasers.

The Bottom Line

The AI race is not about being first or last; it is about being right. Move when the value path is visible, learn fast through disciplined pilots, and stop faster when evidence says so. Organizations that master this rhythm will convert AI hype into durable, profitable growth, while their rivals are still debating the next move.

Because in the end, it’s not about being early or late, it’s about being ready.

#DigitalTransformation #CPO #CTO #CIO #FutureOfWork

Why Every Professional Services Firm Should Embrace Digital Products

The landscape for professional services firms is shifting faster than ever. Driven by client expectations for efficiency, personalization, and measurable value, digital transformation is no longer optional. It is a business imperative. Today’s clients are sophisticated buyers who expect more than traditional advisory or compliance services. They want solutions that are always-on, data-driven, and tailored to their needs.

Why Is Productization So Important for Services Firms?

Integrating digital products into a services business can be a true force multiplier.

  • Stronger Client Relationships: Digital products enable deeper, more sustained client engagement by delivering value between engagements and offering self-service capabilities.
  • Operational Scale: Products automate repeatable processes, freeing up expert capacity for higher-value work.
  • Differentiation: Well-designed digital products create unique value propositions that set firms apart in crowded markets.
  • Data-Driven Insights: By embedding products in service delivery, firms gain actionable insights into client behavior and emerging needs, which fuels both innovation and more relevant advice.

Impact on Firm Valuation

Digital products can fundamentally change a services firm’s valuation profile. Product revenue is valued higher than traditional services due to its recurring nature, higher margins, and scalability. Firms with a blend of services and software typically command stronger multiples in the market. Productization is not just a growth lever but a strategic asset for long-term value creation.

Three Strategic Paths to Productization

There is no one size fits all approach to productizing a services business. The optimal strategy depends on your firm’s client base, core capabilities, and vision for the future. Some firms start by embedding digital tools into their existing service model to increase efficiency and enhance client value. Others develop adjacent, standalone offerings that open up new revenue streams or extend their expertise into digital form. The most ambitious transform their entire service ecosystem into a connected digital platform, fundamentally changing their business model.

Below are three proven approaches to integrating digital products into a professional services business, each with distinct advantages and potential risks. Understanding these paths is critical for leaders seeking to future-proof their firm and unlock new levels of value for both clients and shareholders.

1. Embedded Productization

Approach:
Embed digital tools such as dashboards, workflow automation, or client portals directly into existing service workflows. These tools streamline delivery, automate manual tasks, and enhance transparency.

Benefits:

  • Accelerates adoption by integrating seamlessly with ongoing client work.
  • Drives operational efficiency, reducing cost-to-serve.
  • Differentiates the firm by providing clients with tangible value-adds.

Risks:

  • Clients may perceive these as incremental improvements rather than standalone value.
  • Teams accustomed to legacy ways of working may resist change.
  • Tools built primarily for internal use may be harder to scale or monetize externally.

Example:
A tax advisory firm integrates an automated client document intake portal within its compliance process, reducing manual effort and error rates.
EY Canvas – EY’s audit workflow platform

2. Adjacent Digital Offerings

Approach:
Develop standalone digital products that leverage your domain expertise but operate independently from your core services. Examples include compliance automation platforms, benchmarking dashboards, or self-guided planning tools.

Benefits:

  • Creates new, scalable revenue streams via subscriptions or licenses.
  • Deepens client relationships by offering continuous, proactive value.
  • Opens the door to new client segments and geographies.

Risks:

  • Requires new skills in product management, digital marketing, and customer success.
  • Can cannibalize advisory revenues if not positioned correctly.
  • Risk of missing product-market fit without robust user research.

Example:
A law firm launches a SaaS platform that helps clients track and manage regulatory filings, offered as a subscription service.
PwC’s “ProEdge” upskilling platform

3. Platform Play

Approach:
Build or acquire an integrated digital platform that connects multiple services, client data, and even third-party solutions. The platform becomes the firm’s operating system for client delivery, engagement, and innovation.

Benefits:

  • Positions the firm as an ecosystem orchestrator, not just a service provider.
  • Aggregates data for analytics, benchmarking, and AI-driven insights.
  • Drives higher valuation multiples due to recurring revenue and network effects.

Risks:

  • Requires high upfront investment and longer time to realize returns.
  • Demands a major shift in culture, mindset, and operating model.
  • Platform adoption can be challenging if clients are fragmented across technologies.

Example:
A major HR consultancy launches a cloud-based talent management platform that integrates assessment, onboarding, training, and performance management. This platform serves both enterprise clients and their employees through a single interface.
Mercer’s “Mercer | Mettl” Talent Assessment Platform

Conclusion

For professional services firms, integrating digital products is not just about keeping up. It is about future-proofing the business and strengthening the value delivered to clients. The right product strategy can unlock new revenue streams, create defensible differentiation, and increase your firm’s valuation. The path you choose—whether embedded tools, adjacent offerings, or a full platform—should align with your firm’s vision and client base. Leaders who invest in productization today will be tomorrow’s market leaders.

How is your organization approaching digital transformation?