Will AI Replace Product Managers?
Thoughts about the impacts of AI to the complexity of creating digital products
Hey everyone,
How are you doing today?
Recently, Google released a video about the Gemini, their competitor for ChatGPT. It does look impressive, though the video was embellished a bit. The question is, what will happen to PMs with the massive advance of AI?
Let’s take this free episode to share my thoughts on it. I will keep it short and sweet. Just 3 minutes of reading time.
Which PMs Will Be Out of the Market
How do you describe your job as a product manager? Let me give you a few alternatives.
Writing detailed backlog items or focusing on bringing context to teams
Controlling scope or exploring problem space
Maximizing output or maximizing outcome
Pleasing stakeholders or satisfying customers
Following orders or discovering directions
The more your answers are to the left, the more your job relates to a misinterpretation of product management, which I call the backlog manager. I don’t see a future for backlog managers. Why do I say that?
AI will supercharge PMs, empowering them to deliver value faster. Companies with such PMs will manage to outperform those still missing the mark when it comes to creating digital products.
What AI Can Do for PMs
Let me give you a few things that AI will do for you:
Advanced Prototyping: Instead of writing requirements and coordinating with designers and software engineers, PMs can use generative AI to create interactive prototypes in a few minutes. This empowers them to test assumptions faster than ever.
Competition Analysis: Instead of investing weeks in understanding competition and its differentiation, AI can help you learn about the available alternatives to your product in minutes. This will empower you to know how to create a unique value proposition.
Data Insights: How fast can you learn? You may have hundreds, if not thousands, of data points, but that means nothing without insights. Generative AI can show you bottlenecks, opportunities, and issues faster.
Growing Your Knowledge Further
Don’t wait for tomorrow. AI is already here. The faster you learn, the quicker you can move and become a stronger PM.
Here are a few recommended readings:
Guide of useful AI prompts by HelloPM
Revolutionizing Productivity: 15 Powerful AI Tools You Need To Try
Now, a few tools for you:
Uizard: Prototyping
Feathery: Webforms
SmartWriter.ai: Copywriting
Synthesia: Video creation
What Are You Waiting For?
AI isn’t a hype. It’s transforming how digital products are created. You’ve got plenty of opportunities once you hone your AI skills.
I believe AI will supercharge PMs while it makes backlog managers obsolete. Yet, I haven’t seen any implementation of AI that can use sense and empathy to understand customers in-depth. Once you combine AI with thorough customer understanding, you will stand out.
Let’s rock the product world together!
Here are three ways I can help you even more:
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Have a lovely day,
David
Some people believe that a certain type of product manager will be laid off. But in reality there will be an increasing pressure on product managers to develop.
Instead of certain product managers becoming redundant, certain roles will become redundant.
In my opinion, the AI revolution is one of the best things that could have happened to PMs.
As you wrote - they have much more power now, and less dependency on engineers.
A few months ago, I was at a talk of a prominent VC founder, who said something along those lines:
“2 years ago, I thought my kids should learn programming. Now I don’t think so anymore. With the power AI, anyone will be able to create products, and it will boil down to human interactions. PMs are sometimes acting like ‘prompt engineers’, outlining to developers what to do. Deciding WHAT to do, and WHY will always be relevant - but the execution behind the prompt will change”.