Post by Tobias Freudenreich

AI will not kill Product Management. But confused role definitions might. Last week, I had the honour to take part in a panel discussion in Berlin to celebrate the launch of a new German textbook on product management: 'Produktmanagement: Kontinuierliche Innovation digitaler Produkte' by Lutz Göcke and Michael Schultheiss. I had the (slightly stressful) honour of answering the first question to the panel: “Is the role of product management unclear or maybe even unnessassary in the age of AI?” Christian Hanke (CEO @ Edenspiekermann) raised the question and not only moderated the panel, but also hosted us in their beautiful office, which had an amazing view and rather too tasty wine. My fellow panellists were Laura Fehre (Designer Advocate @ Figma) and Eleonora Scherl (Product Strategy Manager Amazon Web Services (AWS)). 🧐 What I felt in the room: Curiosity. But also a lot of uncertainty. Here’s my take: have you noticed how often we keep asking this role-definition question in different ways? The role of PM has always been blurry. Not because it’s weak, but because it connects everything. 😱 Every few years, we panic about it. AI doesn't eliminate the need to understand humans. In fact, it makes understanding human needs, pains and desires in depth even more critical. Good product managers have always been more than just backlog managers. They could translate user needs into business models and into working products. They were quick learners. They could adapt to changing environments quickly. They embraced change and were able to deal with uncertainty. That hasn’t changed. 🤔 So perhaps this isn't a new crisis? 🍇 Perhaps it's just old wine in new bottles? What if the real question isn’t 'Will the PM role survive AI?' But: 'Are we finally ready to define what product management actually is?' This suggests a shift in perspective. The current debate is less about replacement and more about clarification. 👉 How clearly is the product manager role defined in your organisation today?