The Journey of a Technical Product Owner in Corporate Systems
Welcome to the first post in a blog series dedicated to the Technical Product Owner role. Before diving into responsibilities, challenges, and insights, I wanted to share how I see this role. Everything I write, including this and the following entries, comes from my personal experience. My goal is to outline the responsibilities, challenges, and practical insights about this role while offering support to those embarking on a similar journey in their corporate careers.
What is a Technical Product Owner?
Who ensures business ideas make sense to the developers building the software? In my opinion, that’s exactly what a Technical Product Owner (TPO) does - aligning business goals with technical execution in software development. I use this term because it best describes the reality I’ve seen in corporate environments: a role deeply embedded in translating business goals into actionable technical steps. But let me be clear - this isn’t a universal definition.
There are many definitions of a TPO, and the term is already used with different flavors in software development literature. What I’m sharing here is based on my personal experience and perspective. In different contexts, a TPO might take on varied responsibilities, sometimes drastically different.
How Does This Differ from a Traditional Product Owner?
In theory, a Product Owner (PO) is a strategic leader responsible for maximizing the value of a product. This is outlined in frameworks like SCRUM, as well as in countless books, courses, and discussions. The focus is often on defining goals, prioritizing features, and ensuring that the development team is building the "right" product. But let me ask you, have you ever seen this "strategic" role truly embedded in a team as the literature describes? I haven’t. At least, not one that actively works alongside developers during their day-to-day tasks. That’s probably why someone came up with the term "Proxy Product Owner", which, to be honest, I see as adding no real value. The term 'proxy' only underscores the lack of time and technical understanding from the actual Product Owner, creating a vague and unnecessary layer in the process.
In reality, and especially in corporate software development, I think the role of a Technical Product Owner is much more hands-on. A TPO collaborates with the development team to turn business requirements into actionable tasks. They don’t write technical documents but have a solid understanding of technical details, acting as a bridge between business needs and development. Although they do not interact directly with the end customer, they play a critical role in ensuring the product’s functionality aligns with the customer’s needs.
The Functional Core of the Role
From my perspective, the TPO’s job revolves around answering one essential question: What exactly needs to be built? This means balancing a deep understanding of business goals with the technical realities of development. A TPO isn’t generally a developer or someone purely technical, but they have the ability to grasp what a developer is doing and bridge the gap between business and technology.
In my experience, the TPO role encapsulates skills traditionally associated with multiple roles, including:
- Product Owner (PO): Prioritizing features and ensuring alignment with business goals.
- Project Manager (PM): Managing timelines, dependencies, and delivery coordination.
- Business Analyst (BA): Breaking down complex business requirements into user stories or technical specifications.
This combination makes the TPO role highly dynamic and critical for successful software delivery.
Most of the time, a TPO works as part of an Agile team, whether following Scrum, Kanban, or another framework. In these setups, they focus on ensuring each sprint delivers value by working closely with developers, testers, and stakeholders. But the TPO role isn’t exclusive to Agile. Even in traditional Waterfall projects, they play a functional role by clarifying what needs to be done and ensuring the team understands the requirements. In addition to this, the TPO is often responsible for keeping the project on track, meeting deadlines, and staying within budget. Their role, while not overly technical, is essential for connecting business goals with the practicalities of implementation.
In my opinion, no matter the methodology, the TPO’s ability to bridge business and technology makes them indispensable in the software development process.
Through this blog series, I’ll explore the details of the Technical Product Owner role, looking at its challenges, responsibilities, and practical insights. My aim is to share lessons that can guide others navigating similar journeys in their corporate careers.