Eron Kelly is President of Inovalon, a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions empowering data-driven healthcare.

The combination of cloud-based software with data and artificial intelligence has transformed product development. Across industries, new offerings are being released with greater speed and innovation, making the role of product leaders increasingly complex.

As more tools are available in product development, there’s a higher risk of losing a product’s purpose by getting distracted by new technology hype. The best products stand out for how well they solve a customer problem, so product leaders must be focused on the problem first and then figure out how to leverage new technology. If technology takes precedence, the final product might not solve the customer problem, and adoption could suffer because customers are unsatisfied.

The following four strategies can help establish the balance of rapid, innovative development while remaining rooted in solving customer needs.

1. Work Backward From The Customer

The customer problem should always be your North Star. Starting with the end user’s experience and working backward from that point gives product teams a consistent vision—and helps them reach their destination as quickly as possible.

For example, in healthcare, we know that 80% of patient health outcomes are affected by social drivers of health (SDOH). However, stakeholders throughout the continuum of care have historically needed more access to SDOH data when delivering care or introducing new therapies. This was our guiding principle when developing data visualization software for SDOH. Our innovation started with improving access to SDOH data, to reduce data silos and improve patient outcomes. Working backward from the customer provided clarity at every step, from product ideation to release.

2. Know The Details

A clear vision is essential, but you can’t solve a problem until you get into the details.

It’s the seemingly small details that often make the biggest impact on product development. They empower leaders to offer more impactful guidance, such as when deciding which features will create the most differentiated experience and solve the customer problem in a new way. Details separate impactful features that yield key benefits from those that are just incrementally better than what’s currently available.

For those in the weeds of engineering and development, details help maintain the course, ensuring that what they are building truly makes a difference for customers. In these roles, knowing the particulars means completely understanding the ins and outs of your product—how it works, what it does best and especially where it falls short. It means constantly testing the analytics or tweaking the user experience until the customer problem is solved.

3. Lead To The Destination

As you progress in alignment with the vision and details guiding the way, there will always be challenges that can derail development—from unforeseen complexities or new skills your team needs to new processes required to deliver the product or shifts in the competitive landscape that redefine how to differentiate yourself.

Along that bumpy road, it’s essential to stay focused on the destination and remain optimistic. Optimism goes a long way in leadership; as Colin Powell states, “Optimism is a force multiplier.” If you believe you can do it, you will, but if you don’t think you can, you won’t. As a leader, showing confidence that challenges can be overcome inspires teams to rally behind their cause. They will navigate tight turns and adjustments with your optimism keeping them engaged.

During the early days of Office 365, we faced reliability challenges that we initially tried to address with the typical on-prem software approach. The operations team would develop scripts around the service to maintain its operation. However, this proved to be a temporary fix. Eventually, we discovered that the optimal solution involved a complete shift in responsibility for product uptime from the operations team to the developers writing the code.

There was pushback on all sides at first, but in the end, it was clear that the only way to solve the operational issues for thousands of customers was to do so at scale, which meant going back to the code. Focusing on the positive—solving the customers’ problem—helped align the teams on the new approach and empowered the developers to own the code not just when it was written but also as it evolved and, at times, required maintenance.

We didn’t anticipate needing to make the organizational change when we started. Still, the pivot and positivity along the way helped us reach our destination: a scalable, reliable cloud service that every company could depend on.

4. Embrace AI

It’s undeniable—we’re in the age of AI. Leveraging large language models in product development will soon no longer be a matter of how or for what purpose, but when. Every company will leverage AI in some way, and innovation leaders are already leaning into the power of generative AI, natural language processing and machine learning, focusing on balancing AI-driven innovation with a “human-in-the-loop” approach that verifies and guides the AI.

However, it remains essential not to fall into the trap of using AI to check “the AI box.” You’ll end up adding unnecessary costs or creating an experience that gets in the way of rule #1, solving the customer problem. Always focus on the issue you are trying to solve, then ask, “How can AI solve this in a more efficient or differentiated way?” versus trying to fit AI into a step it doesn’t belong in.

Innovating In Healthcare And Beyond

Healthcare is at a pivotal moment right now. The industry is tackling significant challenges with more resources and greater speed than ever before, mainly due to the increased adoption of the cloud and AI in recent years.

As I look around the healthcare landscape and at other industries, it’s inspiring to see new products solving customers’ needs at a newfound pace. With the correct guiding principles, the future of product development is bright.

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