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Do my hard-won product skills still matter in the AI era?
Product management is evolving from prioritizing build capacity to curating what is actually worth shipping in an AI-saturated market.
What: Ravi Mehta argues that AI has drastically lowered the cost of generating software, making human-centric skills like customer empathy, judgment, and strategic craft more critical to differentiate products.
Why it matters: The industry is shifting away from the 'assembly line' model of software development, where each step was gated by the high cost of engineering, toward a more iterative 'jazz band' approach.
Takeaway: Take the product competency assessment at ravi-mehta.com/assessment to identify your personal 'spikes' and gaps relative to the modern product landscape.
Deep dive
- Building software is now cheap, removing the need for traditional gating processes.
- The product management role now focuses on 'curation' rather than just managing a backlog.
- Teams should adopt a 'jazz band' model where designers, engineers, and PMs riff off each other instead of following a linear assembly line.
- Avoid the 'full stack builder' trap; focus on being 'spiky' in a few key competencies.
- Prioritize minimizing latency (idea to result) over maximizing raw velocity.
- Product management work happens at 'human speed' (empathy, alignment, and strategy).
Decoder
- PRD (Product Requirements Document): A document detailing the purpose, features, and functionality of a product before development begins.
- Spiky: A term for an individual or team that has deep expertise in one or two areas rather than being merely adequate at everything.
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