The world as we knew it will never be the same. AI is eating software. It’s changing everything.

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But is it really changing everything? Or is this just another hype cycle dressed up in neural nets and clever prompts?

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For the record—I believe AI is big. Bigger than cloud, mobile, and the internet combined. But I also don’t buy all the hype. And I especially don’t believe that product development is going to be replaced by a solo founder with no technical background and no product discipline, generating apps by spitting out often crappy code with their AI tool of choice.

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Hence the title of this article: Software is NOT a product without product management.

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The Illusion of Progress

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AI has unlocked incredible speed and accessibility in software development. You can describe a feature in a few sentences and getusable code in seconds. Tools like GPT-4, Claude, and CodeWhisperer are turningnatural language into frontend components, database schema, and backend logic.

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But here's the catch: just because something works doesn’t mean it’s useful. And just because you can build something doesn’t mean you should.

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We're entering an era where anyone can build functional software.But most of that software? It's bad.

• It doesn’t solve real problems.
• It’s disconnected from users.
• It lacks clarity,  purpose, and vision.

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Because software without strong product thinking is just... code.

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AI Doesn't Eliminate Product Management—It Demands Better PMs

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Let’s be clear: AI isn’t killing product management—it’s making it more important. Why? Because AI removes the barriers to building. Now, the real challenge isn’t execution, it’s good product discovery and decision-making.

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In this new landscape, the best product teams will be the ones that:

• Identify and ruthlessly prioritize real problems
• Understand user behaviorcbetter than anyone
• Empathy and understanding of Personas and Jobs to be Done
• Use data (not guesses)cto define opportunities
• Craft thoughtful experiments, not just features

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And guess what? That’s product management.

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AI isn’t replacing PMs. But it is amplifying the difference between good ones and great ones!

The Fundamentals Still Win

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The role of the product manager has never been to write code or manage backlogs for the sake of it. The best PMs are problem-findersand outcome-drivers.

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In a world where anyone can spin up an app with ChatGPT, we don’t need more features—we need better decisions.AI can help PMs:

• Supercharge product discovery
• Speed up research
• Generate User Stories, Problem Maps, Story Maps, PRDs— anything PMs need to build a great strategy for their product
• Analyze user feedback at scale
• Generate experiments
• Align teams faster

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But what it can’t do is decide what matters.

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That’s on you. That’s on your team. That’s on product leadership.

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AI Is a Tool, Not a Strategy

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Think of AI like a new set of instruments. Yes, they sound amazing. Yes, anyone can pick them up and play a few notes. But it still takes a composer to write a symphony.

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Product management is the composition. It’s the structure, the direction, the “why.” And Product Managers can be seen as the Directors of the orchestra performing the composition.

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Shipping fast is great. But if you’re building the wrong thing—or building for no one—you’re just generating expensive noise.

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The PathForward: AI-Augmented Product Management

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So what does this mean for you? Whether you're a solo founder, a seasoned PM, or a startup CTO, the takeaway is the same:

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AI won’t replace you. But someone who uses AI better than you will.

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The future belongs to teams who combine product fundamentals with AI superpowers:

• PMs who use AI to test hypotheses faster
• Designers who use AI to explore ideas faster
• Engineers who use AI to ship faster—but stay aligned with the product vision

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AI is fuel. But product management is still the engine.

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Final Thought

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Yes, software is easier to build than ever. But building software is not the same as building a product.

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Software is not a product without product management.

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Let’s use AI to elevate our craft—not to bypass it.

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