Product Management Leader | Digital Transformation | Consultant | Instructor | Saudi Resident
In Riyadh, I’ve spoken to many product and tech leaders who complain about the absence of data driven decision making. Things are often uncovered very late in the day by chance such as customer complaints, systems going down, user interviews etc. Decisions are instead driven by the founders pet projects and personal preferences as opposed to facts/reality on the ground To gain a competitive advantage when building a software product in KSA you must invest in data engineering and product analysts to empower decision making for your business and product teams. Otherwise… you are guessing blindly and will always have a weak understanding of your users. #Riyadh #productmanagement
nice said Muhammed, totally agreed. in addition to what you mentioned, i see many companies fall into the "feature factory" trap, focusing solely on shipping more features as a primary indicator of progress. this approach often leads to ignoring the actual needs and feedback of customers. investing in building a strong data team not only empowers decision-making but also ensures that the features being developed truly resonate with and address the needs of users. Without this, companies are indeed guessing blindly and risk losing touch with their customer base. 🙌
Without data you are shooting in the dark, how would a PM or a founder knows if what they shipped is working as they expected or not. A well defined success metrics for new features or enhancements is the only way. Without data experimenting also is out of question. For me, it's not about the competitive advantage..it's about the PMF. The feature factory syndrome is everywhere :)
It's important to shift towards data-driven decision making in the product and tech industry. Your insights on the challenges faced in Riyadh are eye-opening Muhammed 🤝🏼
In today's world, making decisions based solely on gut feeling or experience is as good as shooting an arrow in the dark.
Thanks, Muhammed Zaulifqar محمد ذوالفقار for mentioning this point, I'm tagging Mr. Anmar Abbas, as a Data Expert focusing on the MENA region, where he just opened a new company to solve this particular problem
Leading the product team @Nana | Product Strategy | Product Design | Startups | Product Faculty Alumni
3moHiring a data engineering and BI team alone won't resolve the issue. The company culture needs to be addressed to ensure that the insights they produce are utilized for decision-making. Without this cultural shift, insights will be generated and shared but ultimately ignored, with decisions continuing to be based on opinions.