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When we sat down with TPMA Board Member Aaron Mohammed to discuss his career, the passion for both problem-solving and technology was evident. "I never thought of product management or consulting as a career," he shared. "It wasn’t even on my radar until the later years of university."
Aaron’s journey from blissful unawareness to becoming a leader in product consulting is one of curiosity, resilience, and continuous growth. In this feature, we explore his path, lessons he’s learned, and his advice for aspiring product consultants.
Discovering Product Management: An Unknown World
For most of my pre-graduation life, I had no idea what traditional “product management” or “consulting” even was. I only knew that I loved building things and solving complex problems—particularly when leveraging technology to achieve business outcomes.
Growing up, the career paths I was exposed to were limited to traditional roles like doctor, lawyer, or engineer, leaving no mention of careers like consulting or product management that guide organizations through strategy and innovation.
This changed when in my second-last year of my undergraduate degree, when I began networking events and informal conversations with professionals. This introduced me to the hidden worlds of consulting—an opportunity to solve diverse problems across industries and collaborate with decision-makers—and gain all the additional perks (e.g., international business travel and client dinners). Product management fascinated me for its ability to bring impactful solutions to life through technologies like mobile apps, web experiences, and AI/ML.
Love at First Project: Breaking into Consulting and Product Roles
With a new understanding of these fields, I joined IBM Consulting (IBM Interactive Experience) in 2013. There, I combined my passion for strategy and technology with hands-on execution, and I have yet to look back since.
One of my early projects involved analyzing complex banking regulations and its impact on banking technology systems, working directly with executives. This demanding work pushed me to grow quickly, turning challenges like long hours, aggressive timelines, stakeholder politics, and other gray-hair-inducing stresses into transformative learning experiences.
In only a couple years, and several projects under my belt, I was already leading a team of designers and engineers to build the first iteration of the ExxonMobil Speedpass+ app in under three months. This app garnered over 45,000 reviews with a 4.6-star average and remained on the App Store for over eight years—a milestone that reinforced my passion for building impactful products.
What is Product Consulting?
Defining
Product consulting sits at the intersection of strategic advising and hands-on product management. It involves guiding organizations through the entire product lifecycle—from ideation to launch—or providing specialized expertise in areas like design or operations.
Consultants are used to filling the gaps in either expertise or resource limitations in organizations.
Key Objectives
The goal is twofold:
By offering fresh perspectives, consultants help clients overcome resource gaps and break through “tunnel vision” thinking.
Unique Challenges
Unlike traditional product managers, consultants often juggle multiple projects, clients, and/or industries in parallel. Switching context from meeting to meeting is common. Plus, success depends on balancing client deliverables and satisfaction with firm-specific metrics like billable utilization and revenue/sales targets. As you advance, relationships and business development take center stage; less building, more selling.
A career as a Product Consultant is rewarding yet distinct from traditional product management, with unique challenges and considerations—here's my advice for navigating this path:
Your unique background and varied experiences are assets. Early in my career, as a favour to an IBM Partner, I volunteered as a QA Lead managing a team of manual and automation testers. While it wasn’t a direct product role, it sharpened my view of the end-to-end product lifecycle, provided first-hand experience of downstream team impacts, and reinforced delivering exceptional, quality solutions by testing early and constantly. Diverse perspectives add value, enriching your skills to tackle problems from multiple angles and deliver well-rounded client solutions.
Consulting isn’t traditional product management in many ways. You might prioritize stakeholder needs over data-driven strategy, innovate and work behind-the-scenes under NDAs foregoing any public recognition, or focus on metrics like utilization and sales revenue, instead of product outcomes. Make sure these align with your career aspirations.
Strong communication, relationship management, and business development skills are critical. Clients value consultants who can articulate ideas clearly and deliver tailored solutions that exceed expectations.
As a consultant, you’ll need to combine visionary thinking with practical implementation. Clients rely on you for innovative ideas and solutions that align with their goals and resources.
Consulting is dynamic—you’ll juggle multiple projects, clients, and industries. Adaptability and resilience are essential to thrive in this fast-paced environment.
“Consulting” is a broad term, and your experience will vary greatly depending on the firm and practice you join. For example:
Talk to professionals in large, medium, and boutique firms to understand their experiences and identify the path that best aligns with your goals. As someone with experience in all three firm sizes, come find me in the TPMA Slack (or at an event!) for a chat if you have any questions or curiosity. 👋
I’ve had the privilege of guiding organizations of all sizes to strategize, build, and scale human-centric digital products and organizational operations for over a decade. My journey has spanned 10+ industries and 40+ organizations, culminating in the successful delivery of more than 20 end-to-end products and platforms from mobile/tablet applications, to websites/portals, to chatbots, to AI/ML prototypes, and more.
The path to product management and consulting has been one of discovery, challenge, and continuous learning. By embracing diverse experiences and refining my skills, I’ve navigated the dynamic world of product consulting with purpose and passion. This journey has not only shaped my career but reinforced my belief in the transformative power of great products (0-to-1 or 1-to-n) acutely aligned to business strategy and the human experience.
One of the most rewarding projects was in 2019. I partnered with SightLife, a non-profit aiming to eliminate corneal blindness worldwide by 2040. Travelling to and collaborating with teams throughout the US and Northern India as the Product Experience Lead, my responsibility was to define a human-first data platform on AWS to capture and manage corneal transplants and a mobile application for rural government workers, with an estimated impact of 200,000 fewer cases of corneal blindness through product and process implementation.
For those considering a career in product consulting, the opportunities for impact and growth are immense. Whether you’re drawn to strategic challenges or the variety of projects, this field offers a fulfilling path for anyone passionate about innovation and problem-solving.
We’d love to hear from you! What has been your biggest discovery or challenge in your product management journey? Share your thoughts and connect with the community to learn and grow together!
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When we sat down with TPMA Board Member Aaron Mohammed to discuss his career, the passion for both problem-solving and technology was evident. "I never thought of product management or consulting as a career," he shared. "It wasn’t even on my radar until the later years of university."
Aaron’s journey from blissful unawareness to becoming a leader in product consulting is one of curiosity, resilience, and continuous growth. In this feature, we explore his path, lessons he’s learned, and his advice for aspiring product consultants.
Discovering Product Management: An Unknown World
For most of my pre-graduation life, I had no idea what traditional “product management” or “consulting” even was. I only knew that I loved building things and solving complex problems—particularly when leveraging technology to achieve business outcomes.
Growing up, the career paths I was exposed to were limited to traditional roles like doctor, lawyer, or engineer, leaving no mention of careers like consulting or product management that guide organizations through strategy and innovation.
This changed when in my second-last year of my undergraduate degree, when I began networking events and informal conversations with professionals. This introduced me to the hidden worlds of consulting—an opportunity to solve diverse problems across industries and collaborate with decision-makers—and gain all the additional perks (e.g., international business travel and client dinners). Product management fascinated me for its ability to bring impactful solutions to life through technologies like mobile apps, web experiences, and AI/ML.
Love at First Project: Breaking into Consulting and Product Roles
With a new understanding of these fields, I joined IBM Consulting (IBM Interactive Experience) in 2013. There, I combined my passion for strategy and technology with hands-on execution, and I have yet to look back since.
One of my early projects involved analyzing complex banking regulations and its impact on banking technology systems, working directly with executives. This demanding work pushed me to grow quickly, turning challenges like long hours, aggressive timelines, stakeholder politics, and other gray-hair-inducing stresses into transformative learning experiences.
In only a couple years, and several projects under my belt, I was already leading a team of designers and engineers to build the first iteration of the ExxonMobil Speedpass+ app in under three months. This app garnered over 45,000 reviews with a 4.6-star average and remained on the App Store for over eight years—a milestone that reinforced my passion for building impactful products.
What is Product Consulting?
Defining
Product consulting sits at the intersection of strategic advising and hands-on product management. It involves guiding organizations through the entire product lifecycle—from ideation to launch—or providing specialized expertise in areas like design or operations.
Consultants are used to filling the gaps in either expertise or resource limitations in organizations.
Key Objectives
The goal is twofold:
By offering fresh perspectives, consultants help clients overcome resource gaps and break through “tunnel vision” thinking.
Unique Challenges
Unlike traditional product managers, consultants often juggle multiple projects, clients, and/or industries in parallel. Switching context from meeting to meeting is common. Plus, success depends on balancing client deliverables and satisfaction with firm-specific metrics like billable utilization and revenue/sales targets. As you advance, relationships and business development take center stage; less building, more selling.
A career as a Product Consultant is rewarding yet distinct from traditional product management, with unique challenges and considerations—here's my advice for navigating this path:
Your unique background and varied experiences are assets. Early in my career, as a favour to an IBM Partner, I volunteered as a QA Lead managing a team of manual and automation testers. While it wasn’t a direct product role, it sharpened my view of the end-to-end product lifecycle, provided first-hand experience of downstream team impacts, and reinforced delivering exceptional, quality solutions by testing early and constantly. Diverse perspectives add value, enriching your skills to tackle problems from multiple angles and deliver well-rounded client solutions.
Consulting isn’t traditional product management in many ways. You might prioritize stakeholder needs over data-driven strategy, innovate and work behind-the-scenes under NDAs foregoing any public recognition, or focus on metrics like utilization and sales revenue, instead of product outcomes. Make sure these align with your career aspirations.
Strong communication, relationship management, and business development skills are critical. Clients value consultants who can articulate ideas clearly and deliver tailored solutions that exceed expectations.
As a consultant, you’ll need to combine visionary thinking with practical implementation. Clients rely on you for innovative ideas and solutions that align with their goals and resources.
Consulting is dynamic—you’ll juggle multiple projects, clients, and industries. Adaptability and resilience are essential to thrive in this fast-paced environment.
“Consulting” is a broad term, and your experience will vary greatly depending on the firm and practice you join. For example:
Talk to professionals in large, medium, and boutique firms to understand their experiences and identify the path that best aligns with your goals. As someone with experience in all three firm sizes, come find me in the TPMA Slack (or at an event!) for a chat if you have any questions or curiosity. 👋
I’ve had the privilege of guiding organizations of all sizes to strategize, build, and scale human-centric digital products and organizational operations for over a decade. My journey has spanned 10+ industries and 40+ organizations, culminating in the successful delivery of more than 20 end-to-end products and platforms from mobile/tablet applications, to websites/portals, to chatbots, to AI/ML prototypes, and more.
The path to product management and consulting has been one of discovery, challenge, and continuous learning. By embracing diverse experiences and refining my skills, I’ve navigated the dynamic world of product consulting with purpose and passion. This journey has not only shaped my career but reinforced my belief in the transformative power of great products (0-to-1 or 1-to-n) acutely aligned to business strategy and the human experience.
One of the most rewarding projects was in 2019. I partnered with SightLife, a non-profit aiming to eliminate corneal blindness worldwide by 2040. Travelling to and collaborating with teams throughout the US and Northern India as the Product Experience Lead, my responsibility was to define a human-first data platform on AWS to capture and manage corneal transplants and a mobile application for rural government workers, with an estimated impact of 200,000 fewer cases of corneal blindness through product and process implementation.
For those considering a career in product consulting, the opportunities for impact and growth are immense. Whether you’re drawn to strategic challenges or the variety of projects, this field offers a fulfilling path for anyone passionate about innovation and problem-solving.
We’d love to hear from you! What has been your biggest discovery or challenge in your product management journey? Share your thoughts and connect with the community to learn and grow together!
Toronto Product Management Association (TPMA) is a community focused on development, growth and networking of Product professionals in the Greater Toronto Area.
