A customer cries out in the distance — they’re in trouble. A company’s product has floundered, and its problems are building up fast.
All of a sudden, a beacon flashes in the sky. In response, the heroic product manager throws off their glasses revealing their secret identity — they’re off to save the day!
All right, this situation may be a dramatization. But when a product goes wrong, a customer’s pain points are still very real — and it’s often up to a product manager to step in and save the day with their prowess. With years of hands-on experience under their belt developing products, working with engineers and building customer relationships, product managers are in a unique position of understanding every side of a business.
For many tech companies, it’s clear why the multifaceted role of a product manager is growing in demand. According to Built In, 43 percent of companies are hiring more product managers. In fact, the interest in product management doubled between 2016 and 2021, with the technology sector hiring over half of all product people during this period.
That’s why at Ideon, combining continuous development training and customer empathy has not only led to a career of growth for Senior Product Manager Jashan Ahuja but longevity. Starting his professional journey in client-centric roles, Ahuja believes that this trajectory helped him strengthen his capability of customer empathy to truly deliver an impactful product.
“Identify your superpower — that one area of product at which you truly excel — and lean into it as a foundation of your journey,” Ahuja said. “But also keep learning, because there is so much to explore and many ways to be a leader in product management.”
Built In NYC sat down with Ahuja to learn the biggest lessons of his career so far and how any product manager can transform into a superhero by sharpening their biggest strengths.
Ideon suite of APIs connects insurance carriers and technology software to help deliver health insurance and employee benefits to consumers everywhere, at scale, and at every stage of their member journey.
Looking back on your career thus far, what were the most important lessons you learned or professional experiences you had?
Understanding the customer is the key pillar of good product development. My journey toward product management started with very client-focused roles in consulting and system architecture — both of which helped me develop real customer empathy. As a product manager, the better you understand the needs of the customer and truly empathize with their pain points, the better you can represent the voice of the customer and design products that deliver real value.
How have Ideon’s learning and development programs or opportunities helped you to advance your career?
Ideon has provided some fantastic formal and unstructured learning opportunities. One of the highlights was an in-depth leadership development training spanning several months that focused on mentorship, from which we drew lessons of close collaboration and open feedback to proactively instill in our product team’s culture. My mentors at Ideon have leaned into empowering me and the whole product team by establishing a space to be creative, grow and succeed without fear of failure.
Product management is the intersection of customer empathy, business strategy and technical feasibility.”
What’s one piece of advice you would offer to a product manager that's looking to take the next step in their career?
Identify your superpower and don’t stop learning. Product management is the intersection of customer empathy, business strategy and technical feasibility. It is such a broad role that can have an impact on every aspect of a company, including planning and road mapping, designing products to build, developing go-to-market strategies and continually supporting customer success.
