144 - The Data Product Debate: Essential Tech or Excessive Effort? with Shashank Garg, CEO of Infocepts (Promoted Episode)

Experiencing Data w/ Brian T. O’Neill - Data Products, Product Management, & UX Design

Welcome to another curated, Promoted Episode of Experiencing Data!

In episode 144, Shashank Garg, Co-Founder and CEO of Infocepts, joins me to explore whether all this discussion of data products out on the web actually has substance and is worth the perceived extra effort. Do we always need to take a product approach for ML and analytics initiatives? Shashank dives into how Infocepts approaches the creation of data solutions that are designed to be actionable within specific business workflows—and as I often do, I started out by asking Shashank how he and Infocepts define the term “data product.” We discuss a few real-world applications Infocepts has built, and the measurable impact of these data products—as well as some of the challenges they’ve faced that your team might as well. Skill sets also came up; who does design? Who takes ownership of the product/value side? And of course, we touch a bit on GenAI.

Highlights/ Skip to

• Shashank gives his definition of data products (01:24)
• We tackle the challenges of user adoption in data products (04:29)
• We discuss the crucial role of integrating actionable insights into data products for enhanced decision-making (05:47)
• Shashank shares insights on the evolution of data products from concept to practical integration (10:35)
• We explore the challenges and strategies in designing user-centric data products (12:30)
• I ask Shashank about typical environments and challenges when starting new data product consultations (15:57)
• Shashank explains how Infocepts incorporates AI into their data solutions (18:55)
• We discuss the importance of understanding user personas and engaging with actual users (25:06)
• Shashank describes the roles involved in data product development’s ideation and brainstorming stages (32:20)
• The issue of proxy users not truly representing end-users in data product design is examined (35:47)
• We consider how organizations are adopting a product-oriented approach to their data strategies (39:48)
• Shashank and I delve into the implications of GenAI and other AI technologies on product orientation and user adoption (43:47)
• Closing thoughts (51:00)

Quotes from Today’s Episode

• “Data products, at least to us at Infocepts, refers to a way of thinking about and organizing your data in a way so that it drives consumption, and most importantly, actions.” - Shashank Garg (1:44)
• “The way I see it is [that] the role of a DPM (data product manager)—whether they have the title or not—is benefits creation. You need to be responsible for benefits, not for outputs. The outputs have to create benefits or it doesn’t count. Game over” - Brian O’Neill (10:07)
• We talk about bridging the gap between the worlds of business and analytics... There's a huge gap between the perception of users and the tech leaders who are producing it." - Shashank Garg (17:37)
• “IT leaders often limit their roles to provisioning their secure data, and then they rely on businesses to be able to generate insights and take actions. Sometimes this handoff works, and sometimes it doesn’t because of quality governance.” - Shashank Garg (23:02)
• “Data is the kind of field where people can react very, very quickly to what’s wrong.” - Shashank Garg (29:44)
• “It’s much easier to get to a good prototype if we know what the inputs to a prototype are, which include data about the people who are going to use the solution, their usage scenarios, use cases, attitudes, beliefs…all these kinds of things.” - Brian O’Neill (31:49)
• “For data, you need a separate person, and then for designing, you need a separate person, and for analysis, you need a separate person—the more you can combine, I don’t think you can create super-humans who can do all three, four disciplines, but at least two disciplines and can appreciate the third one that makes it easier.” - Shashank Garg (39:20)
• “When we think of AI, we’re all talking about multiple different delivery methods here. I think AI is starting to become GenAI to a lot of non-data people. It’s like their—everything is GenAI.” - Brian O'Neill (43:48)

Links

• Infocepts website: https://www.infocepts.ai/
• Shashank Garg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shashankgarg/
• Top 5 Data & AI initiatives for business success:
  https://www.infocepts.ai/downloads/top-5-data-and-ai-initiatives-to-drive-business-growth-in-2024-beyond/