Using AI for discovery, feedback, and decision-making with Aly Mahan

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Jun 13, 2025

Aly Mahan, Product Operations Manager at Pendo, shares her expertise in navigating customer feedback and leveraging AI for product decision-making. She discusses the balance between responding to feedback and maintaining strategic focus, debunks the myth of 'inbox zero' in product feedback, and highlights the significance of systematic approaches. Aly also emphasizes the importance of combining qualitative insights with AI tools to enhance team efficiency and improve product strategies, all while keeping the core vision intact.

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INSIGHT

Feedback Is A Library Not An Inbox

Treat feedback like a library, not an inbox; you cannot reach inbox zero for feedback.
Product ops should give PMs access to the right topics at the right time instead of expecting them to read everything.

ADVICE

Use AI To Quantify Themes

Use AI to auto-categorize and quantify themes so you can prioritize by signal not noise.
Focus on segments and counts to identify how prevalent issues are and which customers report them.

ANECDOTE

Zendesk Analysis Revealed A Quick Win

Pendo analyzed Zendesk tickets and found a confusing export causing hundreds of tickets.
The team fixed the issue in weeks after quantifying the pattern and surfacing it to product.

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Can AI actually help you manage feedback better – or is it just adding more noise?

In this episode of Product Ops Chronicles, hosts Graham Reed and Antonia Landi sit down with Aly Mahan to discuss using AI to handle feedback at scale, prioritize product decisions, and close the loop more effectively.

Plus, why chasing “inbox zero” for product feedback is a trap – and what to do instead.

Key talking points of episode 12:

Staying on top of customer feedback

Using AI to sort, summarize, and quantify feedback

Why you don’t need to respond to every customer request

Using feedback to help with product discovery

How Pendo's product team is learning about AI

Subscribe now, grab your favorite beverage, and let's deep dive into the fascinating world of product ops. In the Product Ops Chronicles, we don't just talk about products; we make them legendary. 🚀

About our guest, Aly Mahan

Aly cut her teeth in the world of venture-backed startups, where the most important thing was getting sh*t done in a scalable way, with minimum friction and maximum flexibility.

Over the last 15+ years she’s worked in everything from financial auditing to marketing consultancy, and – most recently – spent the last few years helping Pendo ship more consistently while scaling their product team.

Aly is flexible, quick to adapt, and happiest when she’s helping people, learning something new, and turning chaos into clarity.

About our hosts, Graham and Antonia

Graham Reed is the Head of Product Operations at HeliosX Group. He’s a seasoned, results-driven & strategic Product Operations leader with over 10 years as a hands-on product manager/leader. He’s also the Founder of the Product Mind Community, a product-focused mental health and wellbeing support hub.

Antonia Landi is a Senior Product Operations Coach & Consultant dedicated to transforming competitors into market leaders through the power of Product Operations. She specializes in designing and implementing tailored operational frameworks that drive alignment, effectiveness, and measurable outcomes.