In 2010, I was a Product Owner at Symantec, navigating the role in a world that was still figuring out what “agile” meant. Fast forward to today, I’m leading product development in an SMB where agility isn’t just a methodology, it’s a mindset.
Looking back, the contrast is striking, not just in process, but in pace, ownership, and how decisions are made. Here’s how my understanding of the Product Owner role has evolved through both enterprise structure and SMB flexibility, and why I think both worlds have shaped the way I lead today.
🧱 Symantec, 2010: Structure First, Agility Later
At Symantec, agile was still new, often layered over waterfall processes, not replacing them. My role as Product Owner was tightly linked to requirements gathering, timelines, and stakeholder coordination. The work was important but formal: detailed documents, sign-offs, and a focus on scope rather than feedback loops.
We didn’t iterate much. User needs were defined upfront, and pivoting mid-project was rare. The job required alignment more than adaptability, and it taught me how to communicate across large organisations, manage expectations, and keep a product aligned with strategic objectives.
In hindsight, I can see how even back then, I was learning the building blocks of product thinking, just in a slower, more process-heavy way.
⚡ SMBs Today: Fast, Focused, Collaborative
Now, I work in a much smaller and faster environment, and the difference is more than just scale. Scrum isn’t an experiment anymore. It’s embedded in how the team thinks and works.
As Product Owner, I don’t just prioritise, I collaborate, deliver, and adjust in real time. My backlog isn’t static; it reflects a living understanding of user needs, technical constraints, and business goals. I wear more hats: from project manager to internal product evangelist, helping stakeholders understand the why behind each decision.
In this context, the PO role demands decisiveness, but also openness, to feedback, to change, to things not going as planned. And that’s where I’ve grown the most: in making confident choices with imperfect information, guided by shared understanding.
🔁 The Mental Shift: From Deliverables to Value
The biggest difference between then and now isn’t just tools or ceremonies, it’s focus.
- At Symantec, success meant delivering what was asked.
- Today, success means delivering what matters, even if that means changing course.
I’ve moved from managing requests to shaping outcomes. That shift required a new mental model: one where product decisions are never just about features, but about value, timing, constraints, and impact.
🤝 Stakeholder Engagement: From Alignment to Co-Creation
In the enterprise world, stakeholder relationships were structured and hierarchical. Communication flowed through documents and sign-offs.
Today, they’re participative. I invite stakeholders into sprint reviews, ask for input early, and share uncertainty when needed. That transparency creates trust, and better decisions.
🧠 What I Carried With Me
Working at Symantec gave me rigour. It taught me how to manage complexity, navigate ambiguity, and speak the language of stakeholders.
My time in digital marketing and data analysis sharpened my instinct for user value and performance. Now, as a Product Owner, I bring those layers together, technical curiosity, customer empathy, and strategic thinking, to guide product decisions that make a real difference.
Product ownership has come a long way. But so have I.
From managing enterprise-scale launches to leading tight, iterative sprints, my journey reflects the role’s evolution, and the shift from control to collaboration, from process to purpose.
Wherever you sit, in a giant org or a 7-person dev team, the core of the job is the same: help teams build the right thing, for the right reasons, at the right time. That’s a challenge I’ll never get tired of.
