There’s a fascinating shift happening in our field, and it’s time we talked about it. For years, the PM’s mantra has been to define the ‘what’ and the ‘why,’ often translating that into detailed PRDs and granular user stories. We’ve prided ourselves on specifying solutions.
But with the rise of powerful generative AI and sophisticated developer copilots, the ground is moving beneath our feet. Engineering teams can now take a well-defined problem and generate potential solutions with incredible speed. The new leverage point for product managers isn’t in meticulously detailing every feature, but in deeply understanding and articulating the problem.
Our core job is evolving from ‘solution specifier’ to ‘problem curator.’ The most valuable work is no longer just writing the perfect ticket, but framing the user’s need and the business outcome so precisely that an AI-augmented team can explore the solution space far more effectively than we could prescribe. This elevates the importance of continuous discovery, user research, and strategic alignment, while potentially making our old artifacts obsolete.
So, how is this shift actually landing in your day-to-day? Are you finding yourself spending less time on detailed specs and more time on framing problems and goals for your team?