The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences. In this episode, host Frannie Helforoush talks with our host Nick Zervoudis, Head of Product at CKDelta and founder of Value from Data and AI, about his new course designed to help data teams deliver maximum impact. Nick discusses the growing importance of being value-focused amidst economic challenges like inflation and layoffs. Tailored for data product managers and consultants, the cohort-based course emphasizes opportunity discovery, valuation, and aligning data initiatives with business profitability. Hosted on Maven, the interactive format fosters peer learning. Check out Nick's course on Maven and tune in to learn how to ensure your data and AI efforts deliver tangible results. About our host Frannie Helforoush: Frannie's journey began as a software engineer and evolved into a strategic product manager. Now, as a data product manager, she leverages her expertise in both fields to create impactful solutions. Frannie thrives on making data accessible and actionable, driving product innovation, and ensuring product thinking is integral to data management. Connect with Frannie on LinkedIn. Meet our Guest Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CKHutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data,analytics, and machine learning.Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one,having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds BankingGroup, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host ofLondon's Data Product Management meetup, and speaks and writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn. Core offerings delivered by Value from Data & AI: Data product management training Fractional Data Product Manager Data startup advisory 1:1 coaching One-off data and AI discovery projects Data monetization advisory All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.  Join the conversation on LinkedIn.  Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know.  Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights! 

S1 Ep#30: From Engineering to Data Strategy: Driving AI and Decision-Making The Data Product Management In Action podcast, season 1, is brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences. Our guest this week is Theo Bell, a data product manager. She chats with host Nick Zerviudis and shares her transition from mechanical engineering to roles at Goldman Sachs and Palantir, emphasizing the importance of data integration in strategic decision-making. She discusses how Palantir helped a manufacturer prioritize client orders during raw material shortages and explores the challenges of convincing stakeholders to adopt new data models, advocating for production-ready pilots over proof-of-concepts. Theo also offers insights on fostering AI adoption within organizations, using a news summarization tool for a CEO as an example. She recommends the GTD framework and Surrounded by Idiots for enhancing productivity and communication. About our Host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CK Hutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data, analytics, and machine learning. Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one, having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds Banking Group, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host of London's Data Product Management meetup, and speaks & writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn and through his newsletter, Value from Data & AI. About our Guest Theo Bell: Theo is the Head of AI Product at Rimes, where she leads the company’s efforts to leverage AI technology in order to provide cutting-edge data management solutions to clients. Previously, Theo held key roles at Palantir Technologies and Goldman Sachs, where she enabled various industries to leverage data through AI/ML-driven software, notably Airbus' Skywise platform, the NHS, and the UK Ministry of Defense. Theo is dedicated to using AI and technology for global challenges, particularly in improving health, enhancing society, and fostering sustainable businesses. She holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge.  Connect with Theo in LinkedIn. All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.  Join the conversation on LinkedIn.  Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know.  Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights!    .

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.  In Episode 24 of Data Product Management in Action, our host Nick Zervoudis is joined byTefi Trabuchi, Data Platform Product Manager at SumUp, to discuss her experience transforming a reactive data platform team into a user-focused, strategy-driven powerhouse. Tefi shares how she tackled challenges like burnout, prioritization struggles, and resistance to product practices such as user research and OKRs. She highlights the pivotal role of user interviews in shifting mindsets and the delicate balance between reducing risk, ensuring compliance, and driving innovation. Tefi also emphasizes the value of clear communication and curiosity when working in highly technical domains. This episode offers practical insights for product managers navigating the complexities of data, AI, and machine learning. About our host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CKHutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data,analytics, and machine learning.Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one,having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds BankingGroup, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host ofLondon's Data Product Management meetup, andspeaks & writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn. About our guest Tefi Trabuchi:Tefi is a Data Platform Product Manager at SumUp, where she focuses on making sure our data tools are not only secure and efficient but also provide a smooth user experience for our internal teams. Before this, she led the development of an in-house Data Observability tool at Glovo, introducing governance rules and SLAs for key datasets. Tefi enjoys working closely with teams to create practical solutions that make accessing and using data easier and more intuitive, so everyone can make more informed decisions faster. Connect with Tefi on LinkedIn. All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.  Join the conversation on LinkedIn.  Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know.  Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights!              

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.  In Season 01, Episode 20, Nick is back and this time he is chatting with Ganesh Prasad. They dive into Ganesh's background as a data product manager and his journey from data science to product management. The discussion leads into the differences between internal and external products, the importance of user interviews and discovery, and the challenges and advantages of working in big tech and financial industries. Follow along as Ganesh shares some valuable tips and explains the importance of having a product mindset. About our host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CK Hutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data, analytics, and machine learning. Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one, having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds Banking Group, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host of London's Data Product Management meetup, and speaks and writes regularly about data and AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.   About our guest Ganesh Prasad: Ganesh is a Senior Product Lead in the Data Analytics division at Salesforce, bringing over 5 years of experience in data product management from both Salesforce and Mastercard. He has a proven track record of successfully launching and scaling products that meet customer needs. Ganesh has successfully managed and developed analytics, ML, and AI products across various domains, including marketing analytics, fraud detection, revenue forecasting, and platform optimization. Transitioning from a data scientist to a product manager, Ganesh is passionate about the intersection of data and product development. He leads the PM Community of Practice for the Data Analytics division at Salesforce and dedicates his spare time to mentoring others in the field. Connect with Ganesh on LinkedIn.  All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.  Join the conversation on LinkedIn.  Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know.  Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights!   

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences. 

In Season 01, Episode 16,  we introduce another one of our amazing hosts, Nick Zervoudis. Nick is the head of Products for Data and AI at CKDelta. He shares his journey into product management and discusses his dual roles, managing data monetization products and consulting for sister companies. We will discuss Nick’s career highlights, key successes, and challenges. Get to know Nick and learn about journey into the field of Data Product management!  About our host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CK Hutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data, analytics, and machine learning. Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one, having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds Banking Group, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host of London's Data Product Management meetup, and speaks & writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.  
All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else. 

Join the conversation on LinkedIn.  Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know. 

Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights! 

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences. 

In Season 01, Episode 17, host Nick Zervoudis ( Head of Product at CKDelta) talks to Grace Halim (Product Manager with Power Digital Marketing). In this episode Grace shares her career journey and highlights the importance of diverse experiences in shaping a successful product manager. She discusses the value of empathy, strong relationships with engineering and data teams, and the role of curiosity in asking the right questions. Listen to Grace as she shares her plans for a career break to explore new projects! 

About our host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CK Hutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data, analytics, and machine learning. Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one, having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds Banking Group, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host of London's Data Product Management meetup, and speaks & writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.  
About our guest Grace Halim: Grace is a seasoned product leader with a passion for building innovative products. With over 12 years of product management experience, Grace has honed her skills in leading high-performing product teams and delivering exceptional customer experiences. From crafting engaging data products to optimizing complex enterprise systems, Grace has a proven track record of success in the product management field. Grace is currently on a career break traveling around Australia in a caravan with her young family. Having been a product leader in the last two roles she held, Grace excelled in building and scaling product teams, fostering a culture of innovation, and driving business growth. Her teams' focus on customer focus and strategic thinking have been instrumental in delivering successful products that resonate with customers and drive bottom-line results. Beyond her corporate experience, Grace is an entrepreneur at heart. As co-founder of a data platform, she demonstrated her ability to turn a vision into a paying customer. Stay up to date with Grace’s adventure on LinkedIn. 

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else. 

Join the conversation on LinkedIn. 

Apply to be a guest or nominate someone that you know. 

Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights! 

Today I’m joined by Nick Zervoudis, Data Product Manager at CKDelta. As we dive into his career and background, Nick shares insights into his approach when it comes to developing both internal and external data products. Nick explains why he feels that a software engineering approach is the best way to develop a product that could have multiple applications, as well as the unique way his team is structured to best handle the needs of both internal and external customers. He also talks about the UX design course he took, how that affected his data product work and research with users, and his thoughts on dashboard design. We discuss common themes he’s observed when data product teams get it wrong, and how he manages feelings of imposter syndrome in his career as a DPM. 

Highlights/ Skip to:

I introduce Nick, who is a Data Product Manager at CKDelta (00:35) Nick’s mindset around data products and how his early career in consulting shaped his approach (01:30) How Nick defines a data product and why he focuses more on the process rather than the end product (03:59) The types of data products that Nick has helped design and his work on both internal and external projects at CKDelta (07:57) The similarities and differences of working with internal versus external stakeholders (12:37) Nick dives into the details of the data products he has built and how they feed into complex use cases (14:21) The role that Nick plays in the Delta Power SaaS application and how the CKDelta team is structured around that product (17:14) Where Nick sees data products going wrong and how he’s found value in filling those gaps (23:30) Nick’s view on how a digital-first mindset affects the scalability of data products (26:15) Why Nick is often heavily involved in the design element of data product development and the course he took that helped shape his design work (28:55) The imposter syndrome that Nick has experienced when implementing this new strategy to data product design (36:51) Why Nick feels that figuring things out yourself is an inherent part of the DPM role (44:53) Nick shares the origins and information on the London Data Product Management meetup (46:08)

Quotes from Today’s Episode “What I’m always trying to do is see, how can we best balance the customer’s need to get exactly the data point or insight that they’re after to the business need. ... There’s that constant tug of war between customization and standardization that I have the joy of adjudicating. I think it’s quite fun.” — Nick Zervoudis (16:40)

“I’ve had times where I was hired, told, 'You’re going to be the product manager for this data product that we have,' as if it’s already, to some extent built and maybe the challenge is scaling it or bringing it to more customers or improving it, and then within a couple of weeks of starting to peek under the hood, realizing that this thing that is being branded a product is actually a bunch of projects hiding under a trench coat.” — Nick Zervoudis (24:04)

“If I just speak to five users because they’re the users, they’ll give me the insight I need. […] Even when you have a massive product with a huge user base, people face the same issues.” — Nick Zervoudis (33:49)

“For me, it’s more about making sure that you’re bringing that more software engineering way of building things, but also, before you do that, knowing that your users' needs are going to [be varied]. So, it’s a combination of both, are we building the right thing—in other words, a product that’s flexible enough to meet the different needs of different users—but also, are we building it in the right way?” – Nick Zervoudis (27:51)

“It’s not to say I’m the only person thinking about [UX design], but very often, I’m the one driving it.” – Nick Zervoudis (30:55)

“You’re never going to be as good at the thing your colleague does because their job almost certainly is to be a specialist: they’re an architect, they’re a designer, they’re a developer, they’re a salesperson, whereas your job [as a DPM] is to just understand it enough that you can then pass information across other people.” – Nick Zervoudis (41:12)

“Every time I feel like an imposter, good. I need to embrace that, because I need to be working with people that understand something better than me. If I’m not, then maybe something’s gone wrong there. That’s how I’ve actually embraced impostor syndrome.” – Nick Zervoudis (41:35)

Links CKDelta: https://www.ckdelta.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nzervoudis/