Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model

Marty Cagan raises the bar once again with his latest book, Transformed. As the respected author of the product management classics Inspired and Empowered, Cagan delivers fresh insights on how companies can evolve their product development practices for real competitive advantage.

What makes Transformed so compelling is how it unpacks the common operating model shared by successful tech giants like Slack, Apple, Amazon, and Stripe. While these companies lead their industries in innovation, they also share the same product mindset — one that any business can adopt.

Cagan doesn’t just explain what works — he provides a roadmap for change. With clarity and practicality, he shows how to go from siloed teams and legacy structures to empowered teams building meaningful products. Transformed is not only inspiring — it’s actionable.

This book is a must-read for anyone involved in building products, from startup founders to seasoned executives.

What Makes Transformed Stand Out?

Unlike most business books, Transformed doesn’t get lost in theory. Marty Cagan provides real-world insights drawn from high-performing tech companies. The strength of the book lies in translating abstract strategy into tangible, organization-wide change.

This book isn’t just for product managers. It’s for leaders across technology, business, and design. It creates a shared language that makes cross-functional collaboration not only possible, but powerful.

The Product Operating Model

At the heart of Transformed is the Product Operating Model — the set of principles and practices that high-performing product organizations rely on. Cagan outlines five key elements:

• Empowered product teams
• A clear, shared product vision
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Continuous product discovery
• Leadership that enables product thinking

This model aligns closely with how GlobalOrange supports digital transformation efforts — not through isolated technology projects, but by helping teams rethink how they work and deliver value.

Practical and Actionable

Each chapter ends with clear action steps and reflection questions. This makes the book easy to implement — whether you’re launching a new team, pivoting a roadmap, or scaling your platform.

Transformed moves teams beyond traditional delivery models. It pushes them toward customer-centered value creation, faster learning, and long-term impact. This is especially relevant in AI-driven product development, where aligning tech capabilities with product strategy is essential for success.

Relevant for Digital Transformation

Many companies still manage product development through IT or project-based frameworks. Cagan explains why this is no longer sustainable. To thrive in a digital-first world, companies need to adopt product-driven thinking across the board.

The Product Operating Model is a blueprint for this change. It creates alignment between vision, execution and customer needs — essential ingredients for any transformation initiative.

How We Apply It at GlobalOrange

At GlobalOrange, we’ve embedded many of these principles into our own development approach. We work as an extension of your team, bringing in product, UX, development, and cloud experts to help scale your product faster and smarter.

We’ve seen again and again: when organizations adopt the mindset outlined in Transformed, they build stronger teams, better products, and more sustainable growth.

Many of GlobalOrange’s clients already work according to the Product Operating Model described in Transformed. Our approach — built from experience delivering over 100 SaaS products — reflects the same principles. We supplement our clients’ capabilities where needed, offering expertise in product strategy, UX, development and infrastructure. It’s a proven combination for building successful digital platforms.