Maria van Keulen transitioned from a Senior Software Engineer to a Product Manager at MongoDB, drawing on her experience with the company's Evergreen CI/CD system, which she used extensively in her previous role. Her transition was influenced by her ability to communicate complex topics effectively, a skill highlighted when she gave a presentation about the company's code base. Encouraged by her manager and inspired by Marty Cagan's book "Inspired," Maria embraced the opportunity to take on a new challenge in Product Management, where she could combine her technical background with storytelling to solve customer problems. As MongoDB's first Product Manager in the Developer Productivity organization, Maria played a crucial role in redesigning Evergreen's UI and creating a virtual development environment, leveraging her engineering insights to enhance developer workflows. She found support from MongoDB's Product Organization and mentorship from colleagues, which facilitated her shift and enabled her to contribute significantly to the company's product strategy. Maria's journey underscores the potential for software engineers to transition into Product Management, where they can influence product direction and engage with various business areas.