Shifting markets, evolving customer expectations, and organizational pressures can all affect product development, but the real challenge emerges when teams must make decisions without reliable signals. Uncertainty, whether driven by external forces like tariffs or internal shifts in direction, can leave teams moving forward without a clear sense of which choices will actually support progress.
The pressure to act can eclipse the ability to think critically. That is where data becomes grounding. “Data isn’t just numbers. It’s the roadmap to meaningful innovation and long-term customer value,” says Brian Moore, Director of Product Management at Salesforce and Co-Founder of the music tech and digital media platform Canis Major Digital. With more than 600 product launches behind him and a career spanning early stage companies to Fortune 500s, Moore has become a voice for product leaders who want to turn insight into action and build systems that scale. His work across enterprise technology, retail, and digital media reflects a consistent belief that data is a directional force that can steady teams and sharpen decisions.
Turning Data Into Direction
Teams make better decisions when they can actually see what is happening. Clear data brings focus to what matters. “Great product decisions begin with great data,” he says. “When we ground our strategies in insight, not instinct, we eliminate the guesswork and focus on what truly drives results.” For Moore, data is the catalyst that shapes the roadmap itself. At one previous leadership post, behavioral analytics helped his team refine their strategy and trim development cycles significantly. “We cut development time nearly in half while improving customer satisfaction,” he says. “That’s what happens when data directs the vision instead of validating it after the fact.”
These outcomes point to a pattern that appears consistently in Moore’s work: data only matters when it influences what teams do next. Insight is useful only when it translates into a clearer next step, a sharper decision, or a more focused direction for the team.
Empowering Teams Through Shared Insight
If data provides direction, shared insight is what ensures everyone is steering in the same way. “The most effective leaders make data accessible across every function,” he says, noting that alignment emerges more naturally when product, design, and engineering teams are working from the same facts rather than navigating inconsistencies. “The best results come when teams aren’t waiting on analytics. They’re working with them.” When signals are available early and often, teams spend less time defending assumptions and more time determining what actions matter most. In this environment, data becomes part of the daily problem-solving rhythm rather than a report handed off after decisions are already in motion.
Where Data Meets Intuition
Even for the most data-driven leaders, numbers alone will not tell the full story. Empathy, curiosity, and creativity still play vital roles in understanding customer motivations and designing solutions that resonate. “While data gives us clarity, intuition gives us context,” he says. This balance is something Moore practices deliberately. He encourages teams to pair quantitative signals with qualitative insight and to look beyond charts when seeking meaning. “Numbers can tell you what’s happening, but they can’t always tell you why,” he says. The strongest decisions, in his view, blend both sides of the equation: analytical precision and human understanding.
Leading With Evidence and Empathy
For Moore, data-driven leadership is ultimately a cultural model. It shapes how teams collaborate, how leaders communicate, and how products evolve. “When leaders treat data as a partner in innovation, they don’t just build better products, they build better organizations.”
Readers can follow Brian Moore’s work and insights on his LinkedIn or visit his website to learn more.
