Angela Sze, Senior Director of Product at Fullstory, brings two decades of experience to her role. Throughout her career, she’s learned that great products start with a deep understanding of customers. Now, as AI reshapes the product landscape, she's helping lead the evolution in how teams understand and act on user insights.
In a recent conversation, Angela discussed her journey, her approach to understanding customers, the role of AI, and why challenging assumptions is essential.
Let curiosity pave your path
Sze described her career as an organic evolution rather than a planned path. “When I started as a junior product and program manager, they were still designing the discipline," she said. "I was surrounded by experts, which helped me understand the skills I was missing."
Next, she moved to smaller start-ups, driven by curiosity about the complete product journey. "I realized I wanted to drive the product. I wanted to understand what made a product successful vs just ready to launch," she explained. “I got to take all of the skills I’d learned and do them with more velocity in start-ups.”
Learn from user behavior
Traditional analytics have always fallen short for Sze. "The data I have had about my users has always been numbers, line graphs, and tables," she said.
While that kind of data can be useful, she explained that the questions she is most curious about go beyond basic metrics: "Did I help bring value to them? Did they have an enjoyable experience? Is there something that I'm missing in what I gave them that prevented them from accomplishing their intent? Those are behaviors, not numbers."
These questions led her to Fullstory. "Behavioral data gives me the answers I’ve always wanted. I am astounded at the power of watching users use a site. I can see where they could've done better if I had done better,” she said. "It's magical, and I think we can make it 10 times more magical now, in this AI era."
Put powerful insights in everyone's hands
Sze is particularly excited about how Fullstory's StoryAI will change the way teams work with data. "I think we should be honest: product analytics are hard to use. And often, there are three or four people on your team gatekeeping valuable data,” she said. “AI is going to break that. It's going to be a new paradigm."
“I think StoryAI will affect organizations the way Google affected knowledge,” she continued. Before search engines, when someone needed to know a historical fact, they couldn't just look it up instantly and then have informed discussions about it. The same transformation is happening with product data.
Teams often make decisions based on limited information or anecdotal feedback because data is difficult to find and interpret. "But now, anyone can go to StoryAI and say, 'Can you tell me about this customer segment, what have they been doing in their session behavior, how would you compare that to this other segment...'” she explained. “We can have informed discussions with groups of people, as opposed to letting one person who has access to data make the decisions on behalf of all."
Find the right level of trust in AI
While enthusiastic about AI's potential, Sze maintains a balanced perspective on its limitations. "AI can be wrong sometimes, just like humans can be wrong sometimes, just like data can be wrong sometimes. Let's not treat AI differently," she cautioned.
People need to establish an appropriate amount of trust and be intentional about where humans take the reins. "Let's let AI bring more clarity and scope to the conversation, but still use our human minds to make the decisions," said Sze.
Break your assumptions to build better products
As the conversation concluded, Sze reflected on how product teams can navigate a rapidly changing landscape. She believes the most valuable skill isn't having all the right answers—it's being willing to challenge your assumptions and embrace new approaches.
"Always be willing to be wrong," she advised. "Don’t think about your idea; think about what is going to get you to the best ideas quickest."
This mindset is especially crucial as AI transforms how we work with data and build products. The teams that thrive will be those willing to let go of old habits and leverage new tools to gain deeper insights.
StoryAI surfaces actionable insights from your behavioral data, so you spend less time digging through sessions and more time solving problems for your users. Ready to see how it can help your team? Get a demo today.
