AI automates tactical tasks, shifting the PM's role from process management to de-risking delivery by developing deep customer insights. This allows PMs to spend more time confirming their instincts about customer needs, which engineering teams now demand.

The core job of a Product Manager is not writing specs or talking to press; it's a leadership role. Success means getting a product to market that wins. This requires influencing engineering, marketing, and sales without any formal authority, making it the ultimate training ground for real leadership.

Because PMs deeply understand the customer's job, needs, and alternatives, they are the only ones qualified to write the evaluation criteria for what a successful AI output looks like. This critical task goes beyond technical metrics and is core to the PM's role in the AI era.

As AI commoditizes the 'how' of building products, the most critical human skills become the 'what' and 'why.' Product sense (knowing ingredients for a great product) and product taste (discerning what’s missing) will become far more valuable than process management.

AI's rise means traditional product roles are merging. Instead of identifying as a PM or designer, focus on your core skills (e.g., visual aesthetics, systems thinking) and use AI to fill gaps. This 'builder' mindset, focused on creating end-to-end, is key for future relevance.

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.

Technical implementation is becoming easier with AI. The critical, and now more valuable, skill is the ability to deeply understand customer needs, communicate effectively, and guide a product to market fit. The focus is shifting from "how to build it" to "what to build and why."

As AI automates synthesis and creation, the product manager's core value shifts from managing the development process to deeply contextualizing all available information (market, customer, strategy) to define the *right* product direction.

Great PMs excel by understanding and influencing human behavior. This "people sense" applies to both discerning customer needs to build the right product and to aligning internal teams to bring that vision to life. Every aspect, from product-market fit to go-to-market strategy, ultimately hinges on understanding people.