Why I became a product owner

This is a more personal article, aiming to share my journey toward becoming a product professional. I hope you find it inspiring.

Let’s start!😉

From my early days at university, I was good at organizing initiatives and managing projects. Whenever I was assigned to something, I truly owned it. I felt a strong sense of responsibility and took care of it until I saw it take off. Still, I wasn’t sure I had found my true calling. I thought project management might be a good fit, but I first wanted to experience working on projects and large initiatives before jumping into organizing them.

I started my career while still pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Early on, I was mainly involved in web development and system administration, a period that lasted around two to three years. During that time, I worked mostly in very small companies, trying to figure out who I was professionally. One advantage—and at the same time a challenge—of working in such companies is that you get to do many different things, which exposes you to multiple areas (for example, customer support, social media management, and account management). At that stage, I wasn’t focused on money or climbing the career ladder. While growth opportunities were more limited, the learnings were invaluable. These roles helped me build a much deeper understanding of customers.

After completing my undergraduate studies, I applied for a Master’s degree, and that’s when I started to discover what I truly enjoyed. I fell in love with data—the stories it can tell and the decisions it can drive. I spent around five years working as a data scientist at a research center (CERTH) and at Pfizer.

I strongly believe in continuous improvement and constant learning (Kaizen, the Japanese principle), so I decided to pursue a second Master’s degree in Business Administration. During my final year at Pfizer, I was balancing product management responsibilities with hands-on data science work. I realized that insights can guide decisions and, more importantly, have a real impact on human lives. I became increasingly interested in the interpretation of insights and how they could be leveraged to create value.

In addition to the foundational business knowledge provided by the MBA, I also received more formal training in product management. Thanks to Pfizer’s exceptional Learning & Development program, I learned about Agile practices and the role and responsibilities of a Product Owner. I started putting theory into practice—making plenty of mistakes along the way—but we successfully launched a few new internal products, such as the Patient Journey Suite.

At that point, I felt the need to experience something different and see what it was like to work in a fast-paced, tech-oriented company. I joined Kaizen Gaming, eager to explore a very different environment from Pfizer and learn from a new perspective. Fast decision-making, incremental delivery, and a startup mindset defined this chapter. The experiences and learnings I am gaining every day are invaluable, and I am truly grateful for them.

Connecting the dots, I’m grateful for the diverse path that led me here. Working across research, healthcare, and fast-paced tech environments helped me develop a product mindset grounded in data, user impact, and responsible decision-making. 

Today, as I work at the intersection of AI and product leadership, I see the Product Owner role as more than delivery—it’s about translating complexity into clarity, aligning technology with real human needs, and creating value in environments full of uncertainty. This journey taught me that strong product leadership is not about having all the answers, but about asking the right questions, continuously learning, and building products that truly matter.