Shane Butler
Sravya Madipalli
Hai Guan
Free Lesson

Metrics 101: Define a North Star with AI

Part of Build Your AI Product Analyst

60 min
Oct 7, 2026 1:00 PM

What you'll learn

Run the 7-question checklist

The quick test that tells you whether a candidate North Star actually predicts value, or just looks good on a dashboard.

Tell a leading metric from a lagging one

Spot the metric that moves before revenue does, so you can steer instead of reporting the score after the game.

Break it into the levers you can move

Decompose your North Star into the two or three inputs a team can actually act on this quarter.

Avoid the classic vanity traps

Catch the metrics that go up while the business goes nowhere, before they end up in a goal.

Why this topic matters

Most North Star metrics are vanity metrics in disguise. They climb on a slide while retention sits flat, and a whole quarter gets aimed at the wrong number. AI can pressure-test yours in minutes: it checks the definition, tests whether it leads or lags, and breaks it into levers you can move. This session is the workflow for defining a North Star that holds up, and you leave with a checklist.

You'll learn from

Shane Butler

Shane Butler

Co-founder, AI Analyst Lab

Sravya Madipalli

Sravya Madipalli

Senior DS Leader (Ex-Microsoft)

Hai Guan

Hai Guan

Head of Data at Ontra, Ex-LinkedIn

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