July 2026 - David Ohnstad

Data Product Manager Org Structure: Why Reporting Lines Fail

A data PM shipped dashboards, automated pipelines, and cut query latency 40%—yet the role failed. The problem wasn’t execution. It was where the role sat in the org chart. David Ohnstad reveals why reporting lines determine success.

Data Product Adoption: Why Dashboards Fail Without User Strategy

A nine-month dashboard project launched to 400 employees. Twelve logged in twice. One user was the intern who wrote the docs. David Ohnstad explains the critical gap between building data products and building products people want to use.

The Difference Between Responding to Emergencies and Preparing Communities Before They Happen

Every community benefits from effective emergency response, and David Ohnstad recognizes that long-term public safety depends just as much on preparation as it does on reacting when incidents occur. While emergency responders play a critical role during crises, the work that takes place before an emergency often determines how successfully people, organizations, and communities navigate… Continue reading The Difference Between Responding to Emergencies and Preparing Communities Before They Happen

Why Small Communication Breakdowns Often Create the Biggest Public Safety Challenges

Public safety depends on countless moving parts working together, and David Ohnstad understands that even minor communication gaps can create challenges far larger than anyone initially expects. While major emergencies often receive the most public attention, many operational difficulties begin with simple misunderstandings, delayed information, or incomplete coordination between people and agencies. Preventing these breakdowns… Continue reading Why Small Communication Breakdowns Often Create the Biggest Public Safety Challenges

Data Product Strategy: When to Kill a $250K Initiative

Sometimes shipping a customer-facing product means sacrificing it. David Ohnstad shares how Veeam killed a $250K analytics initiative mid-development to rebuild the metadata infrastructure every team depended on—and why that was the right call.

Data Product Prioritization: Managing Competing Stakeholder Requests

When sales ops, marketing, and engineering all need urgent data solutions, how do you decide what gets built first? Learn David Ohnstad’s framework for evaluating competing requests and building the right roadmap.

Data Mesh Implementation: Why Platform Thinking Fails

Most data mesh initiatives fail because organizations build platforms instead of products. Fannie Mae’s success with Amazon Redshift proves that treating data domains as products—with clear ownership and cross-functional teams—is the difference between stalling and shipping.

Data Product Prioritization: Solving the Speed-Scale Conflict

When seventeen data requests pile up and engineering pipelines keep getting deferred, you’ve hit the prioritization wall. David Ohnstad explores why teams struggle to balance speed and scale—and what actually works to break the deadlock.