There’s a seismic shift happening in engineering circles that isn’t getting enough attention in the product world: the rise of Platform Engineering. If you think it’s just a new flavor of DevOps, you might be missing how it will fundamentally change your role.
Platform Engineering is the practice of building and managing an internal developer platform (IDP) that provides self-service capabilities to developers. Think of it as creating a “golden path”—a paved, well-lit road that makes it incredibly easy for engineering teams to ship high-quality code, from idea to production, without getting bogged down by infrastructure complexities.
So, why should PMs care? Because your developers are now your users. The success of your internal platform depends on classic product management principles: user research (with engineers), clear roadmapping (focused on outcomes like ‘reduced cognitive load’ or ‘faster time-to-market’), and strong cross-functional collaboration. You’re no longer just shipping features for external customers; you’re building the very engine that delivers them.
Just as a well-designed IDP removes delivery friction, tools that streamline planning and feedback, like the AI-powered features we’re building at https://leera.io, are crucial for reducing the cognitive friction in the product lifecycle. It’s all about creating leverage.
This forces us to ask: are we treating our developer platform as a first-class product with a dedicated vision and strategy?
How are you adapting your product practices when your primary users are your own engineering teams?