Hi all - looking to make a big move in my career. I'm currently a PM for a Trading Platform (Very Customer Facing), but have experience as a TPM for Machine Learning / AI applications. I have the opportunity to take a PM position at Splunk (similar) owning a new product buildout from Pricing, UI, Design, Technical Architecture, etc. I also have the opportunity to take a PM position as an ML Platform & Model Development PM at one of the major card providers (think Visa, etc.). I can't decide - I feel as if internal product management (ML) is looked down upon vs external PM; however, since AI/ML is such a growing space, it may be worth it? Am I making a big mistake undervaluing how much more important customer-facing features are to your career? I don't have a direct impact on the bottom line if I got into ML PM vs. directly owning a revenue generating product. I'm torn - go into a growing space as an Platform PM or prioritize owning a revenue generating product. I may not be able to break back into external PM if I take this position? TC: 110k, 2 YOE #product #productmanagement
you should be more concerned about tech v.s. non tech than external v.s. internal PM. Banks and credit cards are not tech companies. I'm going to be way less skeptical about a candidate with splunk > visa on their resume, etc.
Let's say these two positions are on the same company - what would you do then?
If it was a tech company selling software, platform PM -- there are a million app PMs, good ML platform PMs are much rarer. Fewer jobs at times, but it's a growing area. ML platforms in that tech environment are usually used to build actual customer facing features, so you are a step removed from the customer but still customer oriented. For a bank, different answer; don't get stuck building risk models for Visa.
Basing this decision on future speculation is tricky. I say go with the manager/company that seems most compatible with you. If you like your job you’ll be successful and other does will open for the next role.
I’m hiring an ML platform PM at twitter ! DM if interested !
Shot you a DM!
It doesn’t matter. You’re looking at this wrong. Pick the right manager. Someone who will support you and can and will promote you for good work.
Really? I get that's important but I was expecting the conversation to revolve around external vs internal PM. Thank you for the insight, although I'm conflicted now!
I’ve done all of these - UI front facing, backend AI/ML, enterprise, consumer. It’s about the quality of people you work with and the quality and support of your manager. A good manager is more important and will help you more than any particular flavor of role you take on. If you can’t assess manager go by quality and caliber of people you get to work with.