Product operations trends for 2023

As we get closer to the end of the year, we ponder what the future holds for the product operations role. Luckily in our State of Product Ops Report 2022, we asked experts for their predictions of what will happen in product ops land in the next year.

Product ops as a function

“My desire would be for the role to be a function itself. Similar to how you have your engineering organization, your product management organization, and your sales organization, there needs to be a product operations organization.

“Especially now that more companies are product-led, and it should not sit within an existing product organization. But instead, work hand-in-hand with the tech org. That would be my biggest wish.”

Diana Soler, Director of Product Operations at Assent

Standardization

“In the last 12 months, I’ve seen the role just gain a lot of steam and credibility within the market that this is a real function that has a unique skill set. That’s really needed as companies scale. My prediction over the next 12 months is you’ll actually see this function become more standardized and almost more solidified in larger organizations.

“Expect to see more VPs of Product Operations, with teams of 50+ at these companies that have massive product teams. I think that’s one trend that we’ll continue seeing. Also, I think something that I feel strongly about is this notion of product ops as an economic buyer.

“I think one interesting thing, and something that I’ve experienced recently is that product ops own all of the tools that product uses. So we hold the budget for roadmapping, customer feedback tools, etc. I’ve been speaking to a lot of venture capital firms recently about my specific needs. So really thinking about a product ops persona to build for. I definitely think this will continue to emerge over the next 12 months.”

Shintaro Matsui, Head of Product Operations at Amplitude

“I think the future is bright. I’ve seen so much more interest in product ops from when I first started doing the role in 2019. It felt like there was very little content and information out there on product ops and now there are so many more resources and even a Product Ops Summit!

“I’ve had so many people reaching out to me who want to set up product ops in their companies (from employees on the ground who have identified the need through to CPOs). I think every product-led company will have a product ops function in the future. I think the function has moved from “Getting started with Product Ops” to “Scaling Product Ops” and the next year will see much more conversation around “Best Practices for Product Ops” - looking into how we do things well and measure success.”

Gerisha Nadaraju, Head of Product Operations at Dojo

Growing interest and more resources

“It’s always hard to predict the future, but if I was to take a wild guess I would say that we’re going to see a growing interest in the role as more people are exposed to product operations.

“As product operations mature in many early adopter organizations, we will start seeing a group of product leaders emerging from the field of product operations. We will start seeing many existing tools adapting to start including product operations needs, but potentially even seeing some new tools emerging looking to solve specific product operations needs.

“We will see more and more material and resources emerging, such as books, articles, and talks. And lastly, we will see the emergence of training programs to open up the possibilities for those looking to make the transition. I hope to be part of the evolution as much as possible.”

Hugo Froes, Product Operations Lead at OLX Motors

“I’m expecting more and more companies to adopt product ops, so it’s a great time to get into the space. At the same time, I expect a lot more product ops courses, certifications, and books to come out, and I’d caution everyone to take these with a grain of salt.

“Something I think will come to the forefront soon is the role of product ops vs agile coaching and if and how these two functions complement each other. Undoubtedly there are a lot of things we are still figuring out and nobody has all the answers - but if you’re passionate about Ops and ready for a challenge it’s certainly the place to be right now.”

Antonia Landi, Senior Product Manager in Product Operations at AVIV Group

Specialization

“Similar to product managers, I think we’re going to see product ops become more specialized. We’ve seen the rise of the growth PM, technical PM, datafocused PM, etc. And I think we’ll see the same for product operations. I’ve already spoken with teams who are becoming specialized. They have a product ops person focused on customer feedback, processes, data, metrics, etc. In a similar vein, I think we’ll see more product/engineering teams get dedicated product ops resources for their teams/pods.”

Gabby Peralta, Product Operations Lead at Sana

Shared skillset with PMs

“I hope that more people will embrace the model where product ops are PMs for the Product Team, and that product ops people have the same skills that we look for in PMs. Those shared characteristics will make it much easier for product ops and PMs to build empathy for each other and help support a healthy relationship amongst themselves.”

Camila Gargantini, Senior Product Operations Manager at Oyster®

Looking for more juicy product ops insights? If you haven’t already downloaded our State of Product Ops Report you’re missing out!

In 2023, we'll be hosting PLA's very first in-person Product Operations event! Stay up to date with the exciting news on this and all our in-person summits in the Product-Led series here.👇