This week, I’ve partnered with Danny Martinez, author Hiring Humans — a newsletter helping founders hire with empathy in the age of AI.
In the last couple of years, product managers have been facing an existential crisis. It started with the tech layoffs and got worse when Airbnb eliminated the traditional PM role. Now, in the face of AI, Claire Vo predicts that product management is dead.
Too many PMs have asked me: Did I pick the wrong career? Will there be fewer jobs? Will opportunities be limited as every PM becomes a super IC? Will we even need PMs when products basically build themselves?
I see a different future for product management.
Yes, the role will change. But the traits that make a great product manager today will be as important (if not more) in the future: strong customer empathy, strategic thinking, and leadership skills.
To outline why, let’s think about product work in terms of its most basic elements: research and development.
Product Research focuses on gaining new know…
