From Data To Profit

CHAPTER 19Data and AI Product Strategy

Product strategy is the connection between implementation and execution. Without this component, everything that comes before it doesn't result in anything except for a lot of paperwork. Taking a product-centric view is critical from the earliest phases.

The word product makes us think immediately about customers. The data organization can also treat internally facing products the same way. A product mentality means we're designing for the real world. The data and models won't just live on a laptop or some development environment. Treat each initiative like a product, and it has the best chance of becoming one.

Top-down and bottom-up opportunity discovery has been completed. The business needs a strategy and some frameworks to convert those opportunities into products that can be built and monetized. This is where a data product strategy takes over.

Products are pragmatic by nature, and that leads to some tactical questions. What is a data product? How do I define a data product? How do I put a price tag on this data product? How do we explain the side of data products people purchase, are willing to pay for, and the business will monetize? This chapter focuses on answering those questions and more.

The Need for a Single Vision

Products start as digital products and mature to include data, analytics, and more advanced models. They need a sense of continuity through their maturity journey. The challenge is similar to retailers’ struggles ...