Abishek Viswanathan is a 2x Former CPO (Qualtrics, Apollo.io) - and my former manager. Today, we're diving into why the PM role is changing and what PMs can do to stay relevant.
the argument can be both ways, that PM work will be automated, as well as that the engineer work will be automated. It is hard to get engineers go from tree level to a 10k feet forest level, and then also talk to customers directly in practice, identify root cause problems and solution them. At the same time it is hard for PMs to write code and be good at that. The context switching is hard. So, getting to a middle ground is a way i see. LLMs write most code, and LLMs do documentation, and then the PM, who knows how to build - measure - learn, builds prototypes themself. Once a solution is validated then hardcode engineers take over. I don’t think PMs are going, if at all entry to midlevel engineers are going.
I have a comment to make here, I understood what you are stating but the doubt is what will engineers do then?
I have 9 engineers in my team and if I give a single screen to just add a text they will not go ahead and check every use-case only a PM can.
I think no one’s going to do other’s work rather now, product can focus on building better product giving time to product thinking and engineering will go ahead and delivery product at lighting speed.
A product manager should have technical skills and that a must to even have a conversation with engineers.
I’m hearing a lot of “AI will enable employees to do twice as much work across multiple fields with ease,” which is the most startup mindset take I’ve seen in a minute. This will absolutely not be the reality for most orgs.
the argument can be both ways, that PM work will be automated, as well as that the engineer work will be automated. It is hard to get engineers go from tree level to a 10k feet forest level, and then also talk to customers directly in practice, identify root cause problems and solution them. At the same time it is hard for PMs to write code and be good at that. The context switching is hard. So, getting to a middle ground is a way i see. LLMs write most code, and LLMs do documentation, and then the PM, who knows how to build - measure - learn, builds prototypes themself. Once a solution is validated then hardcode engineers take over. I don’t think PMs are going, if at all entry to midlevel engineers are going.
Yep, he lands somewhere similar in the ep!
I have a comment to make here, I understood what you are stating but the doubt is what will engineers do then?
I have 9 engineers in my team and if I give a single screen to just add a text they will not go ahead and check every use-case only a PM can.
I think no one’s going to do other’s work rather now, product can focus on building better product giving time to product thinking and engineering will go ahead and delivery product at lighting speed.
A product manager should have technical skills and that a must to even have a conversation with engineers.
Yeah, PMs will have to be more technical and prototyping-literate. If they are, they can succeed.
I’m hearing a lot of “AI will enable employees to do twice as much work across multiple fields with ease,” which is the most startup mindset take I’ve seen in a minute. This will absolutely not be the reality for most orgs.
Definitely a startup mindset. As you scale, enterprises will still need people to do lots of the PM work.