This is spot on "AI prototyping isn’t just a matter of rolling out new tools. It’s a shift in how teams build.
Nobody has this fully figured out yet. The loudest LinkedIn takes — “we don’t need engineers anymore,” “only hire builders,” “I replaced my team with AI agents” — are mostly overreach."
product management and delivery is as much about customer journeys and value as it is about what is built. The old SDLC and Product life cycles have been trimmed down because of the tools many cross functional teams use but the goal remains the same which is to provide value to customers.
I totally agree that the “We don’t need engineers anymore” hype is overblown. My favorite analogy is this: writing software without knowing how to code is like writing a novel in Spanish when you don’t speak the language. Today, both are possible with AI. Yet, to achieve the best possible results, it’s always better to know the language.
This doesn’t mean engineering is a prerequisite for building great things. We’ll see cool products created by non-technical builders who can translate customer intuition and product sense into stellar offerings. But we’ll also see a lot of AI slop. I believe the best products will come from savvy people who understand both the customer and how to craft beautiful software that meets their needs.
Totally with you, especially the point about AI slop and the “we don’t need engineers” take being overblown.
I don’t come from a traditional CS background, but I’ve been able to build and ship by learning with AI and connecting with colleagues. Everything from state management on mobile to computer vision and integrating third-party data sources.
Also, Your point about “savvy people” really resonates. The tools are powerful, but without real hands-on experience and human input, it’s easy to deploy things that technically work but don’t actually fit into a meaningful customer journey and left customers scratching their heads.
Product people show up most when it relates to understanding the customer, the tradeoffs, and where something fits vs just adding more output.
For us: A motivated team member with any “T-shape” can get their idea to execution now, so we are all able to build.
This has laid bare where friction remains: in interpreting customer needs and feedback (empathy, judgment, instinct), and in envisioning design and UX (a taste problem, in many cases).
To pay homage to your Jazz analogy: this happened to music in the 80s and 90s. Perhaps software is having its sampler moment.
You're totally right that the bottleneck has shifted. When everyone can build, the real differentiator becomes understanding what to build and how it should feel.
Love the sampler analogy! Democratizing the tools doesn't diminish craft, it just changes where the craft matters most. In your case, sounds like empathy and taste are becoming your team's superpowers.
Curious how you're thinking about developing those skills across the team, since they're harder to "teach" than technical execution?
They are harder to teach, and harder to learn, you’re right. By our very nature, we’ve had to develop a culture of feedback out of necessity—we spend more time in crits, and saying to each other, “why do we like this?”, “how will customer a or b react to this?”. In this era we get to be more customer centric, and have tighter loops from idea to execution. As we grow I’m excited to see if we can maintain that across the team. Not just the speed, but the customer fluency and “let me try it” mindset.
Agreed, AI has collapsed the build side. Idea to MVP is getting faster. The bigger unlock is when we apply that same AI leverage to the other sides of an MVP: marketing, distribution, pricing, and business validation. Most of the chatter now is about building but precisely because it is easier than ever to build, you need to pay even more attention to these other items. These other MVP areas is not where the risk lives.
Hi Ravi, will you also record the session on Zoom? I’d love to join and pay for the ticket - but it’s late at night.
Hey Alex, yes, the video does get shared to ticket holders after the event, so many people who can't attend often buy a Zoom ticket.
Alex, I'll find out from Dan about whether the session is recorded.
This is spot on "AI prototyping isn’t just a matter of rolling out new tools. It’s a shift in how teams build.
Nobody has this fully figured out yet. The loudest LinkedIn takes — “we don’t need engineers anymore,” “only hire builders,” “I replaced my team with AI agents” — are mostly overreach."
product management and delivery is as much about customer journeys and value as it is about what is built. The old SDLC and Product life cycles have been trimmed down because of the tools many cross functional teams use but the goal remains the same which is to provide value to customers.
I totally agree that the “We don’t need engineers anymore” hype is overblown. My favorite analogy is this: writing software without knowing how to code is like writing a novel in Spanish when you don’t speak the language. Today, both are possible with AI. Yet, to achieve the best possible results, it’s always better to know the language.
This doesn’t mean engineering is a prerequisite for building great things. We’ll see cool products created by non-technical builders who can translate customer intuition and product sense into stellar offerings. But we’ll also see a lot of AI slop. I believe the best products will come from savvy people who understand both the customer and how to craft beautiful software that meets their needs.
Totally with you, especially the point about AI slop and the “we don’t need engineers” take being overblown.
I don’t come from a traditional CS background, but I’ve been able to build and ship by learning with AI and connecting with colleagues. Everything from state management on mobile to computer vision and integrating third-party data sources.
Also, Your point about “savvy people” really resonates. The tools are powerful, but without real hands-on experience and human input, it’s easy to deploy things that technically work but don’t actually fit into a meaningful customer journey and left customers scratching their heads.
Product people show up most when it relates to understanding the customer, the tradeoffs, and where something fits vs just adding more output.
So interesting to see this. Resonates a lot.
For us: A motivated team member with any “T-shape” can get their idea to execution now, so we are all able to build.
This has laid bare where friction remains: in interpreting customer needs and feedback (empathy, judgment, instinct), and in envisioning design and UX (a taste problem, in many cases).
To pay homage to your Jazz analogy: this happened to music in the 80s and 90s. Perhaps software is having its sampler moment.
You're totally right that the bottleneck has shifted. When everyone can build, the real differentiator becomes understanding what to build and how it should feel.
Love the sampler analogy! Democratizing the tools doesn't diminish craft, it just changes where the craft matters most. In your case, sounds like empathy and taste are becoming your team's superpowers.
Curious how you're thinking about developing those skills across the team, since they're harder to "teach" than technical execution?
They are harder to teach, and harder to learn, you’re right. By our very nature, we’ve had to develop a culture of feedback out of necessity—we spend more time in crits, and saying to each other, “why do we like this?”, “how will customer a or b react to this?”. In this era we get to be more customer centric, and have tighter loops from idea to execution. As we grow I’m excited to see if we can maintain that across the team. Not just the speed, but the customer fluency and “let me try it” mindset.
Agreed, AI has collapsed the build side. Idea to MVP is getting faster. The bigger unlock is when we apply that same AI leverage to the other sides of an MVP: marketing, distribution, pricing, and business validation. Most of the chatter now is about building but precisely because it is easier than ever to build, you need to pay even more attention to these other items. These other MVP areas is not where the risk lives.