What is a chief product officer (CPO)?

The evolving responsibilities of the CPO

In recent years, the CPO's role has expanded to encompass the following:

• Product vision and strategy. Defining the long-term vision for product development and aligning it with the company's goals.
• Cross-functional leadership. Collaborating with engineering, design, marketing, and sales teams to deliver cohesive products.
• Customer-centric innovation. Leveraging customer insights and market research to drive product development.
• Data-driven decision-making. Utilizing analytics to inform product strategies and measure success.
• Technology integration. Working with the CTO to ensure that products leverage the latest technologies effectively.

The CPO has become more important as most organizations have experienced a digital transformation. The CPO helps lead the company by maintaining a broad view of organizational goals, needs and successes while simultaneously focusing specifically on the product's objectives and needs.

The role typically includes:

• Product vision.
• Product innovation.
• Product design.
• User and user experience research.
• Product development.
• Product marketing initiatives.
• Product analytics and metrics.

Some companies also put the CPO in charge of distribution, manufacturing and procurement.

The objectives of a CPO include leading and mentoring the product team; developing a vision and strategy for product creation; marketing and raising awareness for the product from its conception to release; and providing research that facilitates informed problem-solving and decision-making.

To fulfill these objectives, CPOs must excel at the following:

• Being strong leaders and supervisors.
• Understanding and interpreting data.
• Strategic product vision skills.
• Leveraging marketing and publicity.
• Supporting customers and users.

As leaders, CPOs manage the daily progression of all product-related activities. They facilitate communication among all stakeholders to prevent organizational silos and ensure projects succeed.

The CPO supervises product management officers like the directors of user experience (UX) product marketing and product analytics. The CPO should also mentor these product management officers to boost their professional skills and support them as necessary.

To make data-driven decisions, CPOs must be able to interpret data. This involves defining and continuously tracking metrics related to product performance. Some such metrics include the following:

• Revenue and profits.
• Retention and turnover rates.
• User activity and engagement.

CPOs also use quantitative and qualitative data to determine whether a product or specific features are ready for the market.

CPOs must possess a strategic product vision that aims to create a scalable product portfolio that can grow the company's profitability. CPOs must ensure each product and its features align to the organization's objectives; they must coordinate review, refinement and support of product sales strategies. And they must support the product after release to ensure it improves continuously to satisfy customers.

Core to strategic product vision is understanding target markets and audiences. Here, CPOs evaluate market trends and the competition's marketing strategies as part of offering effective recommendations for product positioning and pricing.

The CPO must communicate and work with the marketing and communications departments to ensure each product is properly publicized. The CPO is responsible for all product exhibitions, related speeches and presentations at events. The CPO must organize all local and international marketing events, information, launches, conferences, demonstrations and press.

Throughout the product's lifecycle, the CPO is responsible for designing, improving and maintaining the product to guarantee it continues to satisfy customers.

Meeting with current and potential customers is a way for CPOs to dsicover what value or benefit customers derive from the product and what can be done to improve the customer experience (CX). Acting on that guidance properly can ultimately grow the customer base and increase sales volume.

CPO vs. CTO: Distinct yet collaborative roles

Ultimately, the CPO and the chief technology officer (CTO) have the same goal: to create and deliver the best possible user experience for customers and generate continuous value for the company. The CPO and CTO should work together to align the company's vision with their teams' work to build the best possible product for consumers.

The two roles differ in the approach they take to achieve these goals:

• The CPO concentrates on the product's why and what -- understanding customer needs, defining product vision, and ensuring market fit.
• The CTO focuses on the how -- the product's technical implementation, infrastructure, and scalability.

While the CPO ensures the product evolves to changing conditions and satisfies organizational objectives, the CTO oversees how the development or product management teams use technology to improve the product or service. This work usually includes cost-benefit and return on investment (ROI) analyses to find solutions or platforms that will be the most cost-effective and profitable.

The CPO focuses on remaining sensitive to customer insights to drive product decisions, while the CTO relies on the CPO's knowledge of the customer base to deliver value through technology. CPOs must understand customer desires and behaviors, while CTOs must use their technical knowledge to ensure tech applications reflect the way customers want to interact with the product.

While the CPO evaluates qualitative and quantitative data related to the product experience, the CTO measures key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics used to evaluate development teams and product performance.

How to become a CPO

Aspiring CPOs typically follow a career path that includes the following:

• Education. A bachelor's degree in business, computer science, marketing, or a related field is common. Many CPOs also hold advanced degrees like an MBA.
• Experience. Extensive experience in product management, often 10+ years, with progressive leadership responsibilities. Roles might include product manager, director of product, and VP of product.
• Skills development. Building competencies in strategic thinking, leadership, data analysis, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Certifications and training. Pursuing certifications such as the CPO Program from institutions like Kellogg or MIT can enhance credentials.

Emerging trends influencing the CPO role

The role of the CPO is ever-evolving, making it critical for candidates to stay well-versed in emerging trends that will shape their responsibilities and focus in the future. Here are a few of the trends driving the evolution of the CPO:

• AI integration. CPOs are increasingly responsible for incorporating artificial intelligence into products, requiring a balance between innovation and ethical considerations.
• Platform unification. Adopting common platforms and components across product lines to enhance efficiency and consistency.
• Security by design. Ensuring that products are developed with robust security measures in collaboration with security teams.
• Customer experience focus. CX prioritizes seamless and engaging user experiences to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Digital transformation initiatives have increased the role of the chief product officer at many organizations, as a company's business requirements determine the most effective digital transformation strategy. Explore the five types of digital transformation to unlock success.