"𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗" – 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆?

Last year at a tech meetup, someone looked me straight in the eye and declared: "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱!"

The conversation went something like this:

• Him: What do you do?
• Me: 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳.
• Him: Oh, really? I heard product management is dead! Engineers can handle it. We don't have a PM on our team, no PM, no PO, no Project Manager. Just us devs.
• Me: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘱?
• Him: We tried to work it out together initially, but recently only one of the guys usually takes the lead on that.
• Me: 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴?
• Him: The same person works that out too, but honestly, it's tough.
• Me: 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
• Him: Yeah, they don’t develop anymore. There’s just not enough time.
• Me: 𝘚𝘰, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳?
• Him: Well, they're still a '𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳' on LinkedIn!

Fast forward a year later: 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘔𝘴.

It doesn’t matter what you call it, whether it’s a title or a role. If you're defining strategy, managing the roadmap, communicating with stakeholders, and keeping your team aligned, that’s 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

The role of the modern PM has expanded beyond just roadmaps. We're getting deeply involved in design, development, and deployment, collaborating across teams to ensure product success. It's no longer about just talking to customers; it’s about understanding the problem, going deep with technical feasibility, working closely with data scientists, and influencing the business strategy.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿: while AI is changing many roles in tech, the demand for 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹/𝗔𝗜-𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 "𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗱" 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 is increasing. Companies are looking for PMs who understand the technical landscape and can lead cross-functional teams effectively. 

So, next time someone tells you that your role is dead, just remember: real life doesn’t follow flashy headlines or clickbait articles. 

𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀.

What’s your take? How have you seen the PM role evolve in your organisation? How are you adapting to stay relevant?"