AI is Clarifying True Product Leadership
Junior Product Owners panic when ChatGPT creates superior user stories faster than they ever could. Executives start questioning, "Do we even need Product Owners if AI handles their tasks?" Yet this concern misses a key point: AI automates the artifacts of product work but doesn’t replicate the thinking behind them. It reveals the deeper, more critical responsibilities of those accountable for the product: contextual understanding and sound judgment.
Whether you operate as a Product Owner (PO) within a Scrum team or as a Product Manager (PM) with a broader strategic remit, the core challenge remains the same—navigating complexity and making informed decisions that balance user value and business impact.
A Deeper Look at the Three Layers of Product Responsibility
1. Artifacts (Fully automated by AI)
- User stories
- PRDs (Product Requirements Documents)
- Roadmaps
- Competitive analyses
- Status reports
2. Synthesis (AI supports and enhances here)
- Summarizing research and insights
- Interpreting complex datasets
- Assessing technical feasibility
- Spotting relevant market signals
3. Judgment (Exclusively human domain)
- Making strategic decisions under uncertainty
- Aligning multiple stakeholders amidst ambiguity
- Reading between the lines of user feedback
- Building and maintaining cross-functional team trust
Historically, junior POs spend roughly 70 % of their time on the first layer. AI now pushes them to shift at least half their focus to the third. This transition may feel uncomfortable at first but ultimately unlocks richer professional opportunities.
Immediate Steps You Can Take Today
30-Minute AI Audit
Paste this prompt into ChatGPT:
Analyze my typical PO workweek: [your last week’s calendar & task list]. Classify each activity into artifacts (fully AI-automatable), synthesis (AI-assisted), or judgment (human-only). Show me where to focus my growth.\"Reverse-Engineer AI Outputs
Take an AI-generated PRD and pinpoint what’s missing: user-specific context, technical constraints, long-term business goals. These gaps are your roadmap to adding value.
Intentionally Leverage AI as an Amplifier
Reflect using this prompt:
Challenge my last significant product decision: [describe your decision]. What assumptions could be wrong? Which alternatives are viable? What additional data might change my mind?\"Product Owners aren’t disappearing—they’re finally concentrating on where they deliver the greatest impact.