The historical separation between product management, design, and engineering is dissolving. AI assistants handle the coding, allowing a single person to define the product (PM), ensure high-quality aesthetics and UX (designer), and direct the technical implementation (engineer), thus converging the three roles.
AI tools are blurring the lines between roles like product management, UX design, and development. A single skilled individual can now leverage AI to handle tasks that previously required a three-person team, dramatically increasing individual productivity and changing organizational structures.
AI tools are blurring the lines between product, design, and engineering. The future PM will leverage AI to not only spec features but also create mockups and even write and check in code for smaller tasks, owning the entire lifecycle from idea to delivery.
AI tools are blurring the lines between roles. Vercel SVP Aparna Sinha notes that product managers can now build and test working products, not just prototypes. This allows for hyper-efficient, small teams—sometimes just one person—to achieve the output of a full squad.
To adapt to AI-driven workflows, Microsoft's LinkedIn combined product managers, designers, and engineers into a single "full stack builder" role. This structural change eliminates communication bottlenecks and empowers individuals to leverage AI tools for end-to-end product development, drastically increasing speed.
Dylan Field predicts that AI tools will blur the lines between design, engineering, and product management. Instead of siloed functions, teams will consist of 'product builders' who can contribute across domains but maintain a deep craft in one area. Design becomes even more critical in this new world.
AI's rapid capability growth makes top-down product specs obsolete. Product Managers now work bottoms-up with engineers, prototyping and even checking in code using AI tools. This blurs traditional roles, shifting the PM's focus to defining high-level customer needs and evaluating outcomes rather than prescribing features.
As AI democratizes the ability to create products, rigid job titles like "Product Manager" and "Engineer" will become obsolete. Meta PM Zevi Arnovitz predicts that responsibilities will merge, and the focus will shift to the act of creation. In the near future, everyone on a product team will simply be a "builder."
AI tools are collapsing the traditional moats around design, engineering, and product. As PMs and engineers gain design capabilities, designers must reciprocate by learning to code and, more importantly, taking on strategic business responsibilities to maintain their value and influence.
As AI tools empower individuals to handle tasks across the entire product development lifecycle, traditional, siloed roles are merging. This fundamental shift challenges how tech professionals define their value and contribution, causing significant professional anxiety.
The traditional tasks of a product manager—writing specs, building plans, prototyping—are being automated by AI. The role will likely evolve into a hybrid "Experience Engineer" who combines product, design, and engineering skills to build experiences, or a highly commercial "GM" role with direct P&L responsibility.