There's a growing narrative in tech circles that product management as we know it is dead. With the rise of AI tools capable of handling many traditional PM tasks, some argue that the role is becoming obsolete.

They couldn't be more wrong.

Product management isn't dying—it's evolving and becoming exponentially more powerful. Let me explain why.

The Traditional Product Manager: Yesterday's Approach

For years, the product management role has been defined by a standard set of tasks:

• Feature refinement

• User journey ideation

• Writing user stories

• Providing estimates

• Sprint planning

• Roadmap management

This work was necessary but time-consuming. A significant portion of a PM's time was spent on documentation rather than making strategic decisions or adding unique value.

Many product managers still operate this way today, following processes that haven't fundamentally changed in a decade.

Today's Product Manager: Leveraging AI as a Force Multiplier

Forward-thinking product managers aren't being replaced by AI—they're being amplified by it. Here's what the role looks like in companies that are ahead of the curve:

1. Accelerated Documentation

The basic PM tasks haven't disappeared, but they're being completed 5-10x faster. User stories, PRDs, and specifications that once took days now take hours.

2. Enhanced Ideation & Synthesis

Modern PMs are running highly facilitated ideation meetings, recording them, and using AI transcription to transform conversations into actionable documentation. This allows them to capture insights and decisions far more efficiently.

3. Rapid Prototyping

Instead of just writing specifications, today's PMs are leveraging tools like V0, Bubble AI, and Webflow AI to create functioning prototypes quickly. This enables faster validation and clearer communication with stakeholders.

4. High-Quality Research & Benchmarking

AI tools are allowing PMs to conduct more thorough competitive research and benchmarking in a fraction of the time, leading to better-informed decisions.

5. Technical Decision Support

By using AI to evaluate technical challenges, PMs are making faster, more informed decisions about implementation approaches.

6. Building Product Knowledge Bases

Modern PMs are creating comprehensive, easily accessible knowledge repositories around their products, improving organizational memory and onboarding.

Tomorrow's Product Manager: From Manager to Maker

The evolution isn't stopping. The product manager of tomorrow (which in some companies is already emerging today) will take on an even more transformative role:

From Managing Shipping to Actually Shipping

Traditionally, product managers don't ship—designers and developers do. But AI is changing this dynamic. PMs are now able to create functional proof-of-concepts and prototypes themselves, enabling:

• Faster validation from clients and technical teams

• Better understanding of design and development challenges

• More empathetic product decisions

• Higher expertise across the product lifecycle

The Result: Smaller, More Effective Teams

This shift is leading to a fundamental reorganization of product teams:

• Smaller teams (2-4 people)

• Higher expertise across roles

• More products shipped in less time

• Better quality outcomes

What This Means for Product Managers

If you're a product manager concerned about your future, don't be—but do prepare to evolve. The most successful PMs in 2025 will combine:

1. Ownership mindset - Taking responsibility for outcomes, not just processes

2. Shipping mentality - Focusing on delivering value, not just documenting it

3. Experimentation approach - Testing hypotheses quickly and learning rapidly

4. Cross-functional expertise - Understanding enough about design and development to make better decisions

5. AI proficiency - Leveraging the right tools at the right time to multiply their impact

The Future Is Already Here

We're already seeing signs of this transformation. Product teams are getting smaller while their output is increasing. The days of large, siloed product organizations with strict role boundaries are numbered.

In their place, we're seeing the rise of nimble, multidisciplinary teams where PMs have broader capabilities and higher impact. These teams are running multiple products simultaneously with unprecedented efficiency.

Conclusion: Adapt and Thrive

Product management isn't dead—it's being reborn. The role is becoming more strategic, more hands-on, and more valuable than ever before.

For product managers willing to embrace these changes, the future is extraordinarily bright. Those who cling to yesterday's processes and boundaries may indeed find themselves obsolete.

The question isn't whether product management will survive—it's whether you're ready to evolve with it.