Product Management Is Dead, So What Are We Doing Instead? | Lenny & Friends Summit 2024

Episode Overview

• Product management as we know it is "dead" or will be soon due to the rapid advancements in AI.
• AI tools are collapsing the time it takes to perform core product tasks, shifting the role from a process-oriented "hands-off" function to a more creative, hands-on "builder" function.
• The traditional "product triad" (Product, Engineering, Design) is evolving into a model where individuals are "generalist specialists" with skills across all three disciplines.
• Product leaders must adapt by automating their work, acquiring new technical and design skills, and restructuring their teams to thrive in this new AI-powered era.

Key Concepts

• The Death of Traditional Product Management: The core argument is that AI can now automate many of the classic PM tasks (writing PRDs, summarizing user feedback, creating strategies), making the traditional role obsolete.
• The AI-Powered Triple Threat: The future product role will be a "triple threat"—a single individual skilled in product, design, and engineering, empowered by AI to build and iterate rapidly.
• Automation of Product Work: Tasks that previously took weeks (strategy creation) or days (PRD writing, feedback consolidation) can now be accomplished in minutes with AI, fundamentally changing where PMs should spend their time.
• From Handoffs to Hands-On: The traditional model of handing off specs between distinct product, design, and engineering roles is inefficient. The new model favors individuals who can perform tasks across these domains, reducing friction and increasing speed.
• Collapsing the Talent Stack: AI allows individuals to operate across disciplines that once required separate specialists. This "collapses" the talent stack, meaning product leaders need to rethink team composition and hiring profiles.

Quotes

• At 0:30 - "Product management is dead (or will be soon)." - The speaker makes a bold opening statement to frame the urgency of adapting to the changes brought by AI.
• At 1:05 - "Yes, even faster than that." - In response to the audience's presumed understanding of AI's pace, the speaker emphasizes that the rate of change is far quicker than most people realize.
• At 16:10 - "The only people that need to be worried are the people acting like they don't need to be worried." - A warning that complacency is the biggest risk and that product leaders must proactively prepare for the coming shifts.

Takeaways

• Automate your current workflow to free up time. Identify repetitive tasks like drafting documents, summarizing feedback, and creating presentations, and use AI tools to accelerate them.
• Skill up and build a moat. Use the time saved from automation to learn new, adjacent skills in design (e.g., using v0.dev) and engineering (e.g., writing simple code) to become a more versatile product builder.
• Lead the AI transformation on your team. Multiply your impact by teaching your team how to use AI tools, normalizing this new way of working, and rethinking team structure around multi-skilled individuals rather than siloed roles.
• Shift your focus from "less thought" to "more creativity." Since AI can handle the tactical "thinking" (e.g., strategy drafts), redirect your cognitive energy toward more creative, high-leverage activities and spending more time directly with users.