The anxiety of being left behind by the AI wave is actually a positive career indicator. It signifies an awareness of a major technological shift and serves as the perfect catalyst for action. Instead of being a sign of being too late, it's the first step toward upskilling and adapting.
Hands-on AI model training shows that AI is not an objective engine; it's a reflection of its trainer. If the training data or prompts are narrow, the AI will also be narrow, failing to generalize. This process reveals that the model is "only as deep as I tell it to be," highlighting the human's responsibility.
Data isn't just for tracking metrics; it's a direct reflection of how users interpret your product's design and guidance. It highlights the gap between the intended use and the actual use, providing crucial feedback for product development beyond simple usage statistics.
A technically fluent Platform PM can do more than translate requirements. By directly querying logs and databases, they can investigate high-priority tickets, form a theory, and direct the dev team to the right resources, significantly speeding up the support and bug-fixing process.
AI's value for PMs is augmentation, not replacement. By automating tactical tasks that consume most of a PM's day (e.g., "six out of eight hours"), AI frees up critical capacity for higher-level strategic, creative, and innovative work—the core functions of a product leader.
Before deploying AI across a business, companies must first harmonize data definitions, especially after mergers. When different units call a "raw lead" something different, AI models cannot function reliably. This foundational data work is a critical prerequisite for moving beyond proofs-of-concept to scalable AI solutions.