132 / 3 Ways AI Is Transforming Product Management, with Janna Bastow

Product Momentum Podcast

Integrating AI tools into the product management workflow isn’t about cutting humans out of the loop. There’s nothing in the product manager playbook saying, “yeah, yeah, just build this idea and ship it.” Instead, as ProdPad co-founder and CEO Janna Bastow suggests, use AI tools to remove some of the grunt work so that we can spend more time working on the important stuff that’s helping to transform product management.

In this episode of Product Momentum, Janna rejoins Paul and ITX Product Manager Sean Murray to discuss how AI tools are driving the transformation of Product Management. (Catch our first conversation with Janna here: The Product Leader’s Dilemma: Balancing Possibility, Predictability).

Swap Out the Grunt Work To Focus on the Premium

So much of what we do is just grunt work, Janna says, repetitive tasks that require little in the way of expertise. “AI tools remove a lot of that pain,” she added. “That’s the sort of thing that product managers can easily outsource to a GPT-type agent to help us reduce our effort on.”

But the real power of AI comes not in streamlining existing tasks, but in “creating time for higher-level tasks that require human interaction, like talking to customers and stakeholders and using those conversations to figure out what our strategy should be.”

AI as Strategic Copilot

Janna sees AI as more of a sidekick than a replacement for human engagement. “I really like the term ‘copilot’ that’s been flying around,” she says, highlighting an AI strong suit in providing insights and feedback that guide product managers’ decision-making and strategy development.

“[AI] is a copilot, an assistant. a sidekick,” she adds. “And it’s there to help us get to the point that we can communicate or make decisions faster and better. It’s all about making sure the whole org is making better products, and the product team is empowered to do so.”

Lowering Barriers of Entry Into Product Management

Years ago, would-be product managers steered away from the role – voluntarily and otherwise. As Janna explains, “The assumption was that we needed a computer science degree or that we should know how to code.” AI tools have lowered that barrier – maybe even removed it – attracting a more diverse range of talent. “It’s going to open product management up to people who otherwise weren’t going to look down this path.”

Learn more from Janna Bastow by reading her blog and checking out her webinars, talks, and podcast.

You can also watch our conversation with Janna Bastow on the Product Momentum YouTube channel!

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