The Rising Tide of AI

With this chapter, we begin the third major part of this book, which will focus on evolving existing products that don’t currently use machine learning (ML) to leverage artificial intelligence (AI). We will refer to these products as non-ML native products. In the previous part, we discussed ML native products and explored how to go about building an AI native product and how the process unfolds in a way that’s optimal from a data, company, and strategy perspective. Using this same lens, we will now compare and contrast how this process unfolds for products that don’t currently leverage AI.

More specifically, this chapter will re-introduce us to the concept of the fourth industrial revolution. It will serve as a reminder and a blueprint for those of us working as entrepreneurs or product managers for products and organizations that are ready to fully embrace AI. We will be reinforcing the importance of the coming shift towards AI and what...

Evolve or die – when change is the only constant

We like referring to the evolution AI will require of all industries as a competitive imperative because the language we use to describe this paradigm shift will need to be more urgent if it’s going to adequately prepare people for what’s to come. Each industry is a universe in and of itself, and once companies within industries start to see success with AI adoption, this adoption will accelerate. We've mentioned before that product management is an inherently commercial role because, as a product manager or leader, you are tasked with the commercial success of your product. The competitive edge and marketing splash that can come from promoting an AI product is undeniable.

But beyond marketing, AI allows all industries to advance in more tangible ways. All economic and social areas will change with AI, from healthcare to tech, to education and government. The way industries relate to raw materials, plan,...

The fourth industrial revolution – hospitals used to 
use candles

It’s hard to overstate the gravity of what AI adoption will mean for all industries and all job roles, and the delineation between technical and non-technical roles will start to change as well. Right now, AI is mentioned in business articles for the most part as a rising trend or wave, but this wave is quickly turning into a tsunami. In order to stay competitive with their peers, all companies across all industries will find themselves scrambling toward the digital transformation of AI. As more and more companies do this and successfully advance towards accomplishing AI adoption, we will also be seeing more demand for data-centric roles simply because most products, internal operations, and client discussions will evolve along with the AI adoption strategies of companies.

We’re also already starting to see automated ML (autoML) companies and offerings starting to grow as well. Companies...

Fear is not the answer – there is more to gain than lose 
(or spend)

Believing in and dreaming of success are vital skills for a product manager. So much of the role surrounds concepts such as building a product vision, mission, and strategy and ultimately using these tools to create a roadmap that will manifest these more nebulous concepts. As a product manager, you have to train yourself to visualize. You can’t visualize if you don’t maintain clarity and focus on your goal. It’s all about alignment. You might find yourself saying, “do we have alignment?” over and over again as a product manager to the point where you’ll find TikTok videos joking about product managers saying this way too much. Perhaps what makes it so funny is that alignment is so crucial to the role that the job function itself can be distilled into this one word. You’re creating alignment in all ways. You’re aligning leadership, marketing, sales...

Summary

The AI revolution is happening at many levels, and in this chapter, we took a look at a few of the major areas of how AI is impacting industries as a whole, companies from the inside out, and the role of product managers as well. For the companies finding themselves in industries that are now seeing AI transformation, the first part of this chapter focused on the various areas of AI adoption across industries and how this is affecting the future of work itself. The second part of this chapter focused on how AI is transforming companies themselves and how you can get started at the organizational level to prepare for AI adoption. The third part of this chapter then took these concepts down a level to the product manager-level view and the mindset needed from the product's organization to ensure AI is adopted within a product in a way that ensures integrity and strength moving forward.

In the next chapter, we will be exploring the various ways we’re seeing AI trending...