Considering a move from product analytics to product management? It’s a natural progression that reflects the desire to expand beyond data analysis and strategic recommendations into actively guiding the product development journey. This move combines analytical expertise with creativity to transform imaginative ideas into concrete, market-ready products.

Shifting to a product manager role is akin to accepting a captain’s mantle, which requires effective coordination among a myriad of teams, stakeholders, and targets. It’s a complex, yet rewarding, responsibility that calls for a deeper understanding of the product life cycle. In this article, we’ve interviewed the following product managers who have made the journey from product analyst to product management:

We’ve asked them the following questions:

  • Why did you decide to switch from analytics to product management? Can you describe your previous path and how it led to this decision?
  • What were your first steps to make this transition?
  • How long did the transition take, from the moment you decided to switch to the moment you got the product management job?
  • What were the easiest and the hardest parts of making the switch?
  • Which skills from your analytics background did you find useful in the product management job?
  • What are the things you had to “unlearn” from your analyst job in order to become a better product manager?
  • What were the new important skills you gained after the transition?
  • What helped you to move more smoothly through this transition? Any blogs, courses, books, useful tools, or something else?
  • What are the pros and cons of transitioning from analytics to product management? How do the roles compare and contrast?
  • What’s your advice to someone who has started to think about moving from analytics to product management?

Thanks to all of our experts for their responses; we got some great advice. Keep reading for a comprehensive roadmap and guide to product management from product analytics.

Q: Why did you decide to switch from analytics to product management? Can you describe your previous path and how it led to this decision?

Our experts decided to switch from analytics to product management due to a desire to take on strategic roles and make a significant impact on product development. Influences on this shift are varied, with some spurred by prior experiences of ineffective product management, confident they could effect change. Others, deeply entrenched in data analysis, wanted the decision-making and creative roles behind innovative products. Motivations also included a desire for closer insight on customer behavior, vertical career growth, and enhanced collaboration with cross-functional teams. This shift was natural progression, fueled by career aspirations and passions.

Randall Ayers (Senior Manager of Product Management at Nordstrom)

I wanted to take on a more strategic role, work more closely with cross-functional teams, and have a greater impact on product development. My move was triggered by the negative impacts (requirements volatility, significant rework, etc.) of working with weak product managers. I was confident I could do a better job and make a difference.

Amit Bhatia (Senior Product Manager at Tesco)

I began as a product analyst, where I had the unique opportunity to sift through the intricacies of market analysis, competitor analysis, user behavioural metrics, and user reviews/requests to develop and propose innovative products and features for our team to create. Though I was influential in the decision-making process, I was not the ultimate decision-maker or creator. This left me yearning for more. Driven by my passion to create something extraordinary, I decided to broaden my horizons and venture into the realm of product development. I wanted to be more than just a researcher; I wanted to be the visionary behind the products that would change the game.

Gabriella Clarke (Senior Product Manager at Expedia Group)

Before I was an analyst, I worked as a geographer, focused on the gritty details of the dataset underlying the search experience and content on our site. Moving into analytics brought me closer to the big picture thinking of product management. I loved the part of the job that focused on driving insights on customer behavior and helping to inform hypotheses. I wanted more of it.

Federica Coscia (Product Manager at Delivery Hero)

I started my career as a product analyst and later I also worked as a data scientist. In both cases I felt that I was missing the big picture of my projects. I was doing nice analysis and creating models but I couldn’t see how this would help the product and the customer. This is what made me look into product management.

Benjamin Delecourt (Product Manager at Indeed.com)

The shift from being a product analyst to a product manager felt natural to me. After spending a few years as an analyst working on multiple products, I became interested in focusing on a single product and having more control over decision-making. In my role as a product analyst, I worked on a wide range of features within a team that specialized in expanding products globally. My responsibilities included assisting core product and engineering teams with internationalization processes to meet the needs of users outside of the US. When an opportunity arose during the COVID pandemic to work on a feature that would greatly benefit international users and align closely with the company’s objectives, I decided to take on the challenge and transitioned into the role of a product manager.

Ketaki Kulkarni (Senior Product Manager at Microsoft)

Looking back to the time when I was deciding to switch I primarily see two motivators :

  1. The desire to shape the strategy and build new products. In my role as an analytics manager in a small company, I was working closely with the product team. I had a chance to observe closely what goes into product development and management. The big picture really motivated me. Later as a business analyst most of my stakeholders were product managers. I saw how they were making data-driven decisions to influence the direction of the product. This sparked my curiosity about product management as a career choice. 
  2. There wasn’t much vertical growth in an analytics role. Many analysts I knew had eventually switched to different roles for growth reasons and a good number of them had moved to become product managers. So, this was a more practical reason.

Kathleen Qin (Product Manager at Palo Alto Networks)

I didn’t know what product management was at first. I was curious about what it meant to actually build a product. I liked the idea of building something and contributing to the product’s direction and strategy. As a product manager, you are responsible for the product’s success, from ideation to launch, and beyond. That level of impact and scale seemed daunting but exciting.

Moving to product management also seemed like a great opportunity for more collaboration. As an analyst, I spent a lot of time working independently, analyzing data, and creating reports. As a product manager, I get to collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as engineering, design, marketing, and sales, to ensure the product’s success. Their unique perspectives have helped me better understand all the complexities that go into building a product.