When we start talking about the artificial intelligence revolution, there’s one role that’s expected to take a crucial leadership position and that’s the product manager. Why? Well, the product manager is uniquely situated in the product development timeline in a place that allows them to oversee the entire project and as they’re coming from an overhead perspective, they’re able to pinpoint specific processes and moments that could be improved upon with the introduction of AI tools.
In the tech landscape, product managers are frequently left out because they are sometimes not considered ‘tech’ roles; however, with the introduction of artificial intelligence there’s something key we’ve learned: every role will benefit from AI knowledge, no matter how closely linked they are to the tech sector.
Product managers are a key example of a kind of role that could benefit significantly from learning artificial intelligence skills; as they possess the universal vision of the project’s lifespan, they can best understand where blockers are and where tools like automation and innovative suggestions could truly transform their work.
In this article, we’ll dive into why product managers should be first in line to adopt artificial intelligence skills in 2024 and, of course, suggest some of the top ones to truly transform their careers.
Why Should Product Managers Learn AI Skills?
While we don’t anticipate product managers without artificial intelligence skills to be completely replaced by AI-skilled professionals any time soon, we would be remiss to underestimate the impact that AI product managers will have on the field.
Specifically, product managers with AI knowledge will be able to bring the following to their projects:
Improved integration: arguably, the most challenging part of being a product manager is managing each individual part of the entire project, solving problems, running into blockers, and managing a team. Luckily for product managers who are choosing to prioritize AI, however, they’ll be able to employ integration tools that help ensure the entire product lifespan runs smoothly.
Better job opportunities: it’s clear–professionals who have AI skills will be in higher demand in both the present and future as companies realize that AI has the potential to skyrocket productivity and efficiency when led by the right product manager.
A deeper understanding of both sides of the project: there can frequently be a disconnect between what developers are working on and what stakeholders want to see, in addition to confusion about how to properly communicate progress. For product managers with AI skills, however, they’ll be able to serve as that bridge between the two, providing valuable information about what the team’s up to.
The ability to dive deeper: AI tools allow data analysts to collect and sort so much more data and tedious processes to be automated, meaning that if product managers are well-versed on exactly how AI can help speed up the product timeline, they’ll be able to dive deeper into more complex product applications, creating a better final product.
Competitive salaries: you know that in-demand roles are well compensated and we’re seeing higher salaries for AI product managers who are able to take the newest tools that the industry offers and apply them to their current projects. While product managers are generally well-paid to begin with, those AI skills can elevate your salary significantly.
Artificial Intelligence Skills for Product Managers
With a clear understanding of what product managers do and how artificial intelligence knowledge can transform their careers, let’s dive right into the good stuff: the AI skills that product managers should definitely prioritize in 2024.
AI ethics
It would be nice to say that there are no downsides of using artificial intelligence, but that would be far from the truth. As we use AI in more and more areas of our lives, both personally and professionally, we’ve begun to realize that there are a number of concerns when it comes to ethics and bias and as the leaders of the product’s development, AI product managers will begin to play a key role in identifying potentially biased outcomes and ensuring that future products are free of such influence.
AI efficiency
Simply choosing to use an artificial intelligence tool doesn’t guarantee efficiency, just as asking your team to work faster doesn’t actually accomplish that request. There are a number of AI tools out there designed to increase productivity and efficiency and as you can probably guess, product managers will need to evaluate various options, pick the one that best fits their needs, and then properly incorporate it into the team. The best choice may vary project to project and product managers will need to continuously evaluate their progress to see if there’s a better option out there.
In addition, product managers will need to fully understand exactly how these tools work to both defend their usage to stakeholders, solve any potential issues, and explain its use to the team.
Data analysis
As the contact between the team and stakeholders, product managers are frequently questioned on why they’ve made a certain decision and we all know that the best decisions are backed by data. Therefore, knowing how to use AI tools that can sort and analyze large amounts of data, revealing patterns and trends that were hidden to the human eye has the potential to completely revolutionize a product manager’s ability to guide the product in the right direction.
Experimentation
In the past, product managers were typically limited to making decisions that they believed would be the most effective or profitable, even if they had an idea that something else could also work. And now, thanks to incredibly innovative AI tools that can help experiment with potential scenarios and show the predicted outcomes, product managers are better suited to sort through various options and choose the one that’s best for their product.
Balancing human talent with AI
Possibly one of the most crucial elements of being an AI product manager is the ability to balance human talent and potential with artificial intelligence, even if it seems like AI is capable of taking over completely. Although we’re amazed by AI’s capabilities, it’s important to remember that we’re still in the early stages of AI development and there are certain areas where human touch and influence is still preferred to AI.
As the debate around ethics and bias becomes more heated and more rules are put into place to ensure the fair and equitable use of artificial intelligence tools, product managers will also have to see exactly where AI can be used, given local or international regulations.
Artificial intelligence is the future, especially for product managers, and that’s why we’re so focused on preparing today’s product managers for the AI-filled world ahead with our new AI school.
We’ve been watching the market carefully and we know that artificial intelligence is infiltrating every area, not just tech, and that employers will be looking for candidates who are skilled in the AI skills that they need to transform their business.
