There’s a dangerous trend I’ve seen in countless product orgs lately. The C-suite hands down a new mandate: “We need an AI strategy.” Suddenly, roadmaps are filled with items like “Implement GenAI for search” or “Add an AI-powered assistant.” We’re all feeling the pressure to ship AI features.
But in this gold rush, many teams are skipping the most critical step: product discovery. We’re getting so caught up in the solution (AI) that we’re forgetting to ask about the problem. Building impressive technology that doesn’t solve a real, validated user need is just a faster way to build the wrong thing. Our value as product leaders isn’t just to ship the latest tech; it’s to deeply understand our users’ context and leverage technology to create meaningful outcomes.
An AI-powered feature that doesn’t address a core pain point is just noise. It bloats the product, wastes valuable engineering cycles, and ultimately fails to deliver business value. We need to hold the line and ensure our AI initiatives are born from genuine discovery, not just a desire to keep up with the hype.
How are you balancing the top-down pressure for an “AI story” with the bottom-up need for genuine problem discovery in your organization?