What defines a truly versatile product leader? In this episode hosted by Rachel Owens, Product Leader Tulsi Dharmarajan shares how being a five-tool product leader sharpened her ability to read context, navigate ambiguity, and elevate product work from execution to strategic problem-solving. She unpacks how curiosity fuels better decisions, how empathy strengthens collaboration, and how adaptability turns complexity into opportunity. The conversation offers practical guidance on earning trust, communicating with clarity, and staying effective in a landscape where expectations shift constantly.
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Show Notes
- Cross-functional collaboration is a critical superpower in product management
- Understanding both technical and business domains is essential for product success
- Stakeholder management requires balancing multiple perspectives and priorities
- Insurance technology is rapidly evolving through AI and data analytics
- Product managers must bridge communication between technical and business teams
- Continuous learning is key to professional growth in technology consulting
- Customization of products must be strategic and future-proof
- Regulatory compliance is a crucial consideration in product development
- Technical expertise provides a significant advantage in product management
- Building strong relationships across organizations is fundamental to success
- Product managers should seek diverse experiences outside their comfort zone
- Understanding the core business is more important than technical skills alone
- Prioritizing features requires a deep understanding of business impact
- Technology can significantly improve customer experiences in traditional industries
- Vision and strategy are critical components of effective product leadership
- Consulting environments require unique stakeholder management skills
- Product managers must balance immediate needs with long-term technological innovations
- Continuous learning platforms like IEEE and Free Code Camp are valuable resources
- Technical excellence must be balanced with business value creation
- Product management is about creating solutions that solve real-world problems
About the speaker
Tulsi Dharmarajan is an award-winning product strategist and C-Suite leader with over two decades of experience building technology-driven, human-centered products. She’s scaled startups and enterprises from 0→1 and 1→10, delivering $200M+ in business impact and leading products recognized on the Gartner Magic Quadrant and Forrester Wave. Today, she’s focused on shaping the next generation of enterprise platforms by integrating AI to scale high-touch service without losing quality, while mentoring the next wave of product leaders.
About the host
Rachel Owens is an experienced product and operations executive with an exemplary record of bringing new products and businesses to market under her leadership. Rachel’s leadership experiences span start ups to Fortune 500 companies building business focused on sw/hw solutions, software applications, and a consumer IoT device & app. Rachel has 2 decades of experience with much of it working in health tech, IoT, and big data to drive AI enabled AdTech and recommendation engines. Rachel has a proven track record of establishing and building strong profitable relationships with strategic business partners.