I asked here on LinkedIn who's the best IC product manager you've ever worked with, and Aman Khan shot to the top of the list.
Aman Khan is a long-time AI product manager, currently Director of Product at Arize AI. He previously at Spotify, Cruise, Zipline, and Apple.
In our conversation, we discuss:
🔸 What exactly is an “AI product manager”?
🔸 How to break into AI PM
🔸 What separates top 5% AI PMs
🔸 How to thrive as an individual-contributor PM
🔸 Common pitfalls to avoid when building AI products
🔸 The importance of energy and curiosity in product roles
🔸 Much more
Listen now 👇
- YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gBW-e34y
- Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g8QSXBu5
- Apple: https://lnkd.in/gkEt-JyS
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for supporting the podcast:
🏆 Pendo.io — The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application: https://www.pendo.io/lenny
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Some key takeaways:
1. There are three main types of AI product managers:
a. AI Platform PMs, who build tools for AI engineers
b. AI Product PMs, who build products centered around AI
c. AI-powered PMs, who use AI tools to enhance their work
2. Practical ways PMs can use AI tools:
a. Generate UI mockups and prototypes quickly
b. Analyze customer feedback and transcripts at scale
c. Create data visualizations and reports
d. Draft product requirements documents and other artifacts
3. Develop specific metrics for your AI initiatives, even if they don’t directly correlate to revenue right away. Track how many prototypes you create and how many ideas are generated from hackathons, and gather feedback on usability. This will help you gauge effectiveness and iterate on your approach.
4. Just as Betty Crocker found success by letting users add eggs to their cake mix, your AI tools should foster a sense of ownership. Avoid full automation; instead, integrate features that allow users to actively participate in the experience.
5. Top AI PMs stand out by:
a. Focusing on solving customer problems rather than just implementing trendy AI features
b. Thinking critically about the right interface for AI in their products (not always a chatbot)
c. Balancing short-term deliverables with long-term exploration of new technologies
6. To thrive as an individual-contributor PM:
a. Bring high energy to your work, even when facing uncertainty
b. Be comfortable with “wandering” to find new directions for your product
c. Use AI tools to amplify your abilities and find signal through noise
d. Maintain a sense of fun and curiosity in your work