Did the AI bubble fizzle out by the end of last year? Investors seem to think so. At the very least, the market finally caught up with reality. Even with AGI on the horizon, as announced by OpenAI, the costs of maintenance and operations are heavy. Take OpenAI’s recent $6.6 billion raise. It’s expected to last just 1.5 years before they burn through it (CFO Dive, 2024). In other words, there are concerns about profitability.
The problem? AI has yet to be applied to a meaningful use case that’s also profitable. Despite the hype, AI products still struggle to address real-world problems at scale. Product management is about solving problems. However, with AI, there’s been a shift from companies toward building solutions based on AI instead of solving problems.
Take Apple Intelligence. Apple promised that it would be a game-changer during their last key-note. In practice? I use it for grammar checks and sometimes I play around with Image Playground to message my friends. It’s hardly a transformative experience.
This doesn’t mean AI won’t revolutionise the way we interact with digital products and the way we work. It will. But there’s a lesson here for product people. Focus on real problems, not hype.
The same challenge applies to product management as a whole. Building flashy solutions without addressing real problems leads to diminishing returns. I believe the following trends will shape product management in 2025 and beyond, driving a shift from hype to impact.
1. Traditional Product Management Is Dying
Tech layoffs reshaped product management. Job markets became more competitive. Product roles expanded and expectations on product managers shifted (Mind The Product, 2024).
Traditional product management thrived in a zero-interest rate era. It was linear, feature-focused, and driven by metrics. Think waterfall, extensive planning, and rigid processes with little room for mid-course corrections, like SAFe.
But times are changing. Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of AirBnB, predicted back in 2023 that product management will shift toward being more agile, design-led, and driven by rapid iteration and customer insights to fuel product-led growth (Hacker News, 2023). Apple has been doing this for years — blending product, marketing and design to create seamless experiences (Interaction Design Foundation, 2024).
The reality? Most product managers aren’t there yet. Too often, PMs focus on building features without any concern for the business impact. Product teams build outputs, hand them off to marketing, and move on with their lives. Features are built in isolation. Optimisation and user adoption is an afterthought.
But building features Is pointless without usage at scale. Adoption is the metric that matters. No adoption? No impact.
At my previous company, I saw this first-hand. Marketing was a separate function. Products launched without a go-to-market strategy. It was product theatre at scale.
The truth is that adoption is not simply a product problem. It’s also a marketing problem. The lines between product and marketing, especially with the rise of Product-Led Growth (PLG) thinking, are blurring fast. PMs must evolve into quasi-product marketers — ensuring adoption, not just delivery.
AI will accelerate this shift by automating traditional tasks like requirement gathering and documentation. The future of product management isn’t in managing backlogs. It’s in driving adoption, growth, and impact.
2. The PLG Mindset Will Become Standard
Product people will need to think beyond feature delivery. Adoption metrics (both pre-launch and post-launch) should drive product decisions. Start with the business goal and work backwards. Frameworks like the McKinsey’s Problem-Solving Framework, Theresa Torres’s Opportunity Solution Tree, Spotify Thoughtful Execution Framework, and even the Double or Triple Diamond can help shape this thinking.
The problem today? Too many products are build reactively, not proactively.
A proactive PLG mindset means aligning product strategy with business goals, balancing short-term wins with long-term ROI. It further seeks to minimise tech debt and solve real user problems.
At its core, PLG focuses on the product experience itself as the primary growth lever. This approach is gaining traction, but many industries are still playing catch-up.
Analytics will continue to be essential. However, the focus will shift toward leading indicators. It’s not just about tracking usage; it’s about understanding user behaviour, cohorts, and patterns that drive meaningful growth.
Adoption doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a mindset shift. Work backwards from impact.
3. Discovery is the New Deliverable: PMs and UX Collaboration
UX designers were once the rockstars of tech. But rising interest rates reshaped priorities, forcing teams to focus on efficiency and business impact.
In the future, PMs will play a bigger role in both problem and solution discovery, collaborating closely with UX designers. This work extends beyond crafting happy flows to addressing edge cases — the scenarios that often make or break a product’s value proposition. Overlooking edge cases, a common mistake, can lead to costly consequences that erode your product’s core value. In a market where users are more selective and retention is critical, getting this right is essential.
PMs bring a unique advantage to the discovery process by tying design decisions back to business strategy. The focus is shifting from simply shipping features to ensuring that every feature drives measurable business outcomes. (An alternative to this, of course, is the rise of the Product Designer role.)
Optimisation towards business metrics will be key. The goal is to align product outcomes with business goals to maximise impact.
Ultimately, PMs shape the direction of the team. They lead some of the most expensive resources (i.e., UX designers and engineers) so there’s no room for wasted effort. Every feature shipped must earn its place by delivering real value.
Final Words
The AI bubble may or may not have fizzled, but the lesson for product people is clear:
- Hype won’t drive impact, but solving real problems will
Product management is evolving. The future belongs to those who solve create meaningful change through adoption and business outcomes.
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