Building Delight: Inside Microsoft Product Management

Polaris is a production of Synozur – the transformation company. Synozur reimagines business for our clients, navigating the complexities of transformation and strategy with ease.

In this episode of Polaris, Chris McNulty speaks with Sean Squires, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, about the evolving landscape of software development, particularly in the realm of content management and AI. They discuss the challenges posed by the massive data explosion, the role of AI in enhancing content findability, and the importance of customer empathy in product management. Sean shares insights into the balance between creating minimally viable products and those that are lovable, as well as the impact of AI on product development processes. The conversation also touches on the cultural aspects of technology and personal reflections on creativity and inspiration.

Polaris is produced with the help of our friends at Riverside.fm. Our theme song, “Alternative Dream” is provided courtesy of Adobe.  Additional music and sound provided by IndieGuy Records. Graphic design by Josh Brantley.

Polaris is available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Thanks.

Quotes

“Customer empathy is the cornerstone of building a good product.” – Sean Squires

“A minimum viable product must quickly become a minimum lovable product.” – Sean Squires

“Whenever we build a feature, we ask: where’s the magical moment for the user?” – Sean Squires

“Some of the best ideas I’ve seen come directly from customers and the community.” – Sean Squires 

References

Data and Business

IDC estimates 175 zettabytes of data worldwide by 2025, with ~80% of it unstructured and 90% of unstructured data never analyzed –

Global Intelligent Document Processing market size growing from $1.1B (2022) to $5.2B by 2027 at 37.5%

Major League Baseball – ~63% of surveyed MLB players do not want robot umpires (Automated Ball-Strike system), preferring the human element – https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25204707-mlb-pitcher-says-potential-abs-robot-umpire-rule-change-would-ruin-baseball

Henry Ford’s “faster horse” quote – “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” (Often attributed to Ford to illustrate innovation beyond customer requests; actual origin is apocryphal) – https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/07/28/ford-faster-horse/

Steven Sinofsky – “Learning by Shipping” – Blog by former Microsoft Windows president Steven Sinofsky, discussing tech, management, and strategies (includes commentary on AI and product development) – https://learningbyshipping.com/

“Unsolicited Feedback” podcast – A weekly product & growth podcast by Reforge, featuring candid discussions between product leaders on recent tech trends and product decisions – https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback

Google NotebookLM – An AI-powered research and note-taking tool by Google that can summarize documents and even generate podcast-like audio discussions from your notes (an experimental project formerly known as Project Tailwind) – https://notebooklm.google/

ModuleQ – An “People-Facing AI” startup founded by David Brunner, which integrates with Microsoft Teams to deliver personalized, proactive insights to professionals (example of AI in enterprise workflow) – https://www.moduleq.com/

Pop Culture

“The Pitt” – The Pitt (2025) is a new medical drama TV series set in a Pittsburgh trauma hospital’s ER, noted for its realistic portrayal of medical staff and intense single-shift story structure (starring Noah Wyle) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pitt

“A Day in the Life” – Iconic 1967 song by The Beatles (from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), known for its elaborate production – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADayintheLife

Sir George Martin – Renowned record producer for The Beatles, often called “the Fifth Beatle” for shaping their sound – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Martin

Irving Berlin’s transposing piano – Songwriter Irving Berlin used a custom piano with a transposing lever so he could play in one key (F#) and the piano would shift the pitch, allowing him to accompany in any key – https://www.straightdope.com/21343780/if-irving-berlin-couldn-t-read-or-write-music-how-did-he-compose

The Ministry of Time (novel) – The Ministry of Time is a 2024 science fiction novel by Kaliane Bradley, exploring time travel and identity. It gained attention as one of Barack Obama’s recommended summer reads in 2024 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheMinistryofTime(novel)

Leon (Leon Bridges album) – Leon (released October 2024) is the fourth studio album by R&B/soul artist Leon Bridges. The album blends retro soul with folk and country influences and has received positive reviews for its storytelling and style – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon(LeonBridges_album)

The Intrazone podcast – The Intrazone is a Microsoft 365 podcast (hosted by Mark Kashman and oft-co-hosted by Chris McNulty) that ran from 2018–2025, covering SharePoint and Microsoft 365 topics. (It announced a pause after 220+ episodes in mid-2025) – https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/36825055

Events

Business Strategy Master Class | June 17, 2025 (Teams Online) Synozur's own Matt Shaffer will present our new master class on how to develop and sustain business strategy with the Synozur Company OS.  https://aka.synozur.com/strategy-masterclass

TechCon 365 Seattle | June 23-27, 2025 (Seattle Convention Center)

FY26 Forward - Microsoft Partner Success Strategies - July 29, 2025. A fireside chat about Microsoft's plans for its new fiscal year and how partners can align for success.

TechCon 365 Atlanta | August 11-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

TechCon 365 Dallas - | November 3-7, 2025 (Dallas, TX). Irving Convention Center

Microsoft Ignite 2025 – Nov 17-21, 2025 (San Francisco, CA). 

ESPC25 (European SharePoint Conference 2025) | Dec 1-4, 2025 (Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) Dublin, Ireland). 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Sean Squires and His Role at Microsoft

06:53 The Role of a Product Manager

09:18 A Day in the Life of a Product Manager

12:25 Navigating Product Development Challenges

15:29 The Balance Between MVP and MLP

18:02 Creating Delightful User Experiences

21:07 Customer Needs vs. Innovative Solutions

24:15 The Importance of Customer Feedback

27:11 Working with Familiar vs. New Tech Stacks

30:02 AI's Impact on Product Development

32:34 Staying Inspired in Product Management

38:58 Introduction to Upcoming Events

40:27 Reflections on Podcasting and Future Directions