Building with Purpose: Apoorva's Journey from Engineer to Product Leader at Amazon

Interview with Apoorva – Senior Product Manager, Amazon

Conducted by: Tarun Singh Rajput, CMO at Valuebound and host of DXP.Live Podcast

From software engineering in Bangalore to managing a $400 million brand in Africa, and now shaping the podcasting landscape at Amazon, Apoorva’s story is a masterclass in purposeful transitions, cross-domain mastery, and customer-first product thinking.

Tarun Singh Rajput: Apoorva, welcome. Let’s start with a quick introduction. Could you tell us about your current role at Amazon?

Apoorva: I’m a Senior Product Manager at Amazon, based in San Francisco. I lead product development for our podcast SaaS tool that enables creators to host, distribute, and monetize their shows globally. Our current focus is on enterprise podcast networks, including those with their own direct ad deals, as well as integration into our programmatic ad platform. Within this space, I focus on ad tech and customer lifecycle management. My work revolves around ensuring campaigns are efficient and customer onboarding through offboarding is seamless, scalable, and doesn't add unnecessary overhead to internal teams.

Tarun: Your journey into product management is remarkable. You began as an engineer and later moved into marketing and analytics. What motivated those transitions?

Apoorva: It’s been a gradual evolution. I started as a software engineer in Bangalore. The ability to build things from scratch gave me immense creative freedom. My friends and I used to moonlight on app ideas, but we quickly realized that building great products wasn't just about writing code. We didn’t understand customer needs, operations, or usability testing—and that’s when I knew I needed a broader perspective. That curiosity led me to pursue an MBA and later work as a brand manager at Kellogg’s in Africa. I managed a $400 million P&L, which gave me a deep understanding of branding and go-to-market strategy.

But I missed the fast-paced, scalable problem-solving environment of tech. I returned to the US, completed a Master’s in Business Analytics from UCLA, and eventually joined Amazon. Throughout, my focus has been on understanding the customer, because that’s what shapes meaningful products.

Tarun: Many aspiring PMs struggle with transitioning without prior experience. How did you overcome that barrier?

Apoorva: It’s always a chicken-and-egg situation; you need experience to become a PM, but you need the PM role to gain experience. What helped me was domain expertise. I understood advertisers and marketers because I had been one. When I applied to Amazon, I told them: I understand your customer persona deeply, and I can build for them. That resonance helped me make the switch.

If I had to sum it up: a good PM builds what customers want. AI, tech, strategy, they're all tools. The real driver is empathy and clarity of purpose.

Tarun: Speaking of AI, how do you see its role in product management, especially in your day-to-day work?

Apoorva: AI is transformational, especially in areas involving repetitive or manual work. In podcast ad tech, for instance, one major challenge is the inefficiency in campaign management. Delays in approvals, scattered communication, and repetitive tasks slow down monetization. AI helps identify friction points, automate workflows, and shorten the feedback loop.

But AI is not the end; it’s a means. It enables scale and efficiency, but only when aligned with genuine customer needs.

Tarun: Let’s talk about your product process. How do you approach prioritization and roadmap planning?

Apoorva: For me, product management is 80 percent execution, 20 percent strategy. Strategy is important, but most of the time, you’re in the trenches. Each year, I align our short-term goals with a clear three-year vision. This ensures we’re not just reacting, but building with direction. Roadmaps are outcome-driven, not feature-driven. I ask: what business or user value are we delivering this quarter, this year?

When it comes to gathering requirements, I spend time in deep discovery. Customers often don’t articulate the problem accurately. That’s where observation and the right questions matter. You may be told to “build a feature,” but upon investigation, you may find the problem lies elsewhere. It’s a PM’s job to map requests to actual needs, then collaborate with designers and engineers to prototype and test solutions. AI now allows us to build prototypes in minutes, which speeds up validation tremendously.

Tarun: What’s your advice for PMs in fast-evolving industries like AI?

Apoorva: Stay close to your customers and stay honest about what moves the needle. Don’t chase features, chase outcomes. Build for what users need today, but architect with tomorrow in mind. Strategy without execution is a dream. Execution without strategy is chaos. Balance both.

Tarun: This has been one of the most insightful conversations we’ve had on DXP Live. Apoorva, thank you for sharing your journey and wisdom.

Apoorva: Thank you. I’ve enjoyed every bit of this exchange.