Meet Mihir Pathak, a recognized top industry expert within Technology, Software and Digital Transformation space – bringing meaningful impact to customers and businesses through strategic product leadership, user-centric design acumen and sharp analytical skills. With over 8 years of Product Management experience, Mihir has successfully delivered billion-dollar projects across multiple industries and received awards and recognition from major industry players from BMW to Walmart. In this exclusive interview, we uncover his journey as a Product leader, along with his endless passion and curiosity towards making meaningful impact with technology.
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Hi Mihir, please tell us about yourself.
Hi, I am Mihir Pathak, a Senior Product Manager specialized in Technology, Software and Digital Transformation space. I hail from India, where I completed my undergraduate Engineering degree program in Information Technology, and worked for a while as a Software Engineer. But I realized I could create impact on a larger scale with more strategy-oriented roles, which is why I came to the United States to upskill myself in management and design principles, and earned my Master’s degree in Information Management. Since then, I have had the opportunity and privilege to work with multiple esteemed organizations, and create meaningful positive impact for people through customer-centric design acumen, technical subject matter expertise, and purpose-oriented product strategy.
Can you share how you got started in the field of technology?
I have always been curious since childhood. I would tinker with any electronic equipment I could find, and try to know how it worked, including my father’s radio which I “accidentally” broke down during one such curiosity session *chuckles*. Once I got introduced to computers at school, a whole new world opened up! By the time I completed high school, I had turned into a quintessential nerdy kid spending time designing websites while my friends had fun playing football. So, it was a combination of incessant curiosity, guidance from teachers who saw potential in me, and the privilege to have access to computers, which naturally led me pursue a career in the field.
So, from tinkering with computers as a kid to having worked with big industry brands as a Senior Product Manager – you’ve had a remarkable journey. What keeps you motivated?
I just love technology and I’m passionate about solving real problems with it. In addition to my domain of work, I like to keep myself updated about the latest developments and trends in a broad variety of fields. Because technology is always evolving with endless possibilities, and there are still many problems to be solved. I find that looking at technological advancements holistically can help solve multiple problems within a short span of time.
Which of the products you’ve built so far, are you most proud of?
Genuinely, I feel gratified with every product I’ve built, as it has created a sustained positive impact for people and respective companies. But the top 2 products are the AI-powered pharmacy assistant system I helped build for CVS Health – which improved patient safety outcomes through increased prescription assessment accuracy and intelligent medicine dispensing recommendations, and the all-encompassing enterprise-wide QR code ecosystem I built for Walmart – which dramatically improved customer experience and education while browsing product assortment and availing services like EV charging, and greatly improved operational efficiency and revenue for the company, as it’s designed as a multi-modal platform shoppers and staff members with an intuitive single-pointed gateway and modularized with technologies like AI and Augmented Reality for applicable use-cases.
The world is changing quite rapidly with AI. How do you see it affecting the field of technology product management?
Indeed, AI has changed the paradigm for practically all fields. From Engineers and designers shipping apps & services faster by supervising intelligent agentic tools, to medical researchers making exponential breakthroughs in disease and medicine research by utilizing specialized neural networks running large simultaneous simulations, AI has already set the wheels in motion for humanity to achieve more in less time. For product strategists such as myself, AI helps automate processes, analyze large chunks of data to identify patterns, rapidly create and iterate working prototypes, and generate simulations that provide an early glimpse into the effectiveness of potential strategies, empowering me to spend time more meaningfully in creative ideation and research, and making it easier and faster than ever to make and execute informed business decisions.
How do you like to unwind?
In addition to reading and watching videos about latest developments in technology and other fields of interest, I regularly practice yoga and meditation, play table tennis (ping-pong), hike nature trails, do some photography, and cook fancy vegetarian meals.
Would you call yourself a foodie?
Yes! As an Indian vegetarian, I cook my own hearty meals at home on most days. But on weekends, I love venturing out to explore cuisines from other cultures. And I currently live close to New York city, so there’s always an abundance and variety of good food.
Given an opportunity to go back in time, would you do anything differently?
I’ve always strived to do the best I could with the information and resources available to me at any given point in time. Besides, one cannot learn without trials and errors. So even if I could go back in time and change things, I may lose out on valuable perspective, expertise and life lessons that were possible only through failures.
What matters the most to you in life?
Purpose, integrity and the right intent. In my humble opinion, these qualities are even more crucial than being gifted or influential, if one wants to create a holistic positive impact on the world.
What advice would you give to aspiring technology product leaders?
Keep being curious learners and be bold enough to take risks early on. It’s better to try, fail and get wiser, than to never try at all.
What’s next for Mihir?
I recently completed an advanced certification program in AI Product Management, and plan to dive deeper into building purpose-driven tools with agentic AI. We are in the golden age of technology with exponential developments in AI models and tools. People with good ideas and good intent have virtually limitless possibilities to make the world a better place by leveraging these technologies, and I’d like to do so by staying ahead of the curve.
