The pressure from leadership and the market is immense: ‘What’s our AI strategy?’ This has kicked off a gold rush, turning many of our roadmaps into a race to ship AI-powered features. But in this rush, are we at risk of becoming an ‘AI Feature Factory’?
It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, bolting on a chatbot here or a generative AI summary there. The technology is impressive, but technology alone isn’t a product strategy. When we prioritize shipping anything with an ‘AI’ label over solving a validated user problem, we risk wasting valuable engineering cycles on features that add complexity without adding real value. We start shipping solutions in search of a problem.
As product leaders, our core responsibility is to be the voice of the customer and the steward of business value. It’s our job to cut through the noise and ask the tough questions, grounding our strategy not in FOMO (fear of missing out), but in deep user empathy and a clear ‘why.’
How are you balancing the executive push for AI innovation with the foundational need to solve meaningful customer problems on your teams?