The Age of Product Builders

AI is transforming the classic product trio: product manager, designer, engineer.

The roles are blending as AI closes the skill gap for each specialty. Designers can use AI tools to create working prototypes of their designs; engineers can create designs to code; and product managers can do everything in between. Heck, each role can do what they enjoy and use AI to handle the rest.

I believe we’re moving into The Age of Product Builders.

While they each specialize and focus on a given area (product, design, engineering), they can leverage AI tooling to supplement and close the skill gap more quickly. This will help build better empathy and even better products. If AI can get us 80% of the way there, then we have more time to experiment, test, and put more quality into the products we build.

I am a product builder.

I started in design, learned software engineering, and then picked up all the other skills around leading and managing products and their development. I don’t identify with a single discipline because I believe in the combination of all disciplines. The goal is to build high-quality software products.

And I think this is a paradigm shift in the process—an evolution of the craft.

Agility will be paramount in this new age. And I’m excited for it.