Product Managers: Stop Being Scribes, Start Being Strategists with AI
Jul 18, 2025
PMs: Stop Being Scribes, Start Being Strategists with AI
I'll never forget one particular Tuesday. It was 4 PM, I had three "urgent" requests piled up, a stakeholder asking for an update on a spec I hadn't even started, and my calendar was a minefield of back-to-back meetings. I realized I'd spent the entire day drowning in communication—Slack, emails, meeting notes—and hadn't moved the needle on anything truly strategic for the product. It hit me then: I was being a scribe, not a strategist.
For a long time, the product manager role often felt like an endless loop of tactical tasks. We've all been there: scribbling notes in meetings, meticulously updating Jira tickets, and acting as translators between engineering, design, and marketing teams. While these tasks are essential, they frequently pull us away from the bigger picture—the strategic thinking and innovation that truly define product leadership.
There's a unique frustration that comes from being consumed by documentation and coordination, leaving little time to consider the "why" behind what we're building. It often meant that by the time we could step back and think strategically, a launch was already imminent, and we were always reacting.
But the world is changing fast with the rise of AI. This isn't just about minor efficiency gains; it's about fundamentally reshaping the PM role. For product managers, AI offers a real opportunity to reclaim time and refocus on strategic objectives.
Let AI Handle the Repetitive Tasks
Think about all those recurring, time-consuming tasks that fill your day. Many of them are perfect candidates for AI assistance. Need a first draft for a feature announcement? AI can generate one. Drowning in meeting notes? AI can summarize them. Want to outline basic user flows from your PRD? AI can help with that too.
AI isn't here to replace us; it's here to amplify our abilities. By offloading much of the "scribe" work, AI frees us to concentrate on strategic activities like:
Deep customer research: Understanding user needs and pain points at a fundamental level.
Market analysis: Identifying emerging trends, competitive shifts, and new opportunities.
Vision setting: Crafting compelling long-term product roadmaps that inspire and align teams.
Cross-functional alignment: Ensuring all teams are working synchronously towards shared goals.
From PRD to Prototype in Minutes: A New Reality
This is where AI truly transforms the product development process. The days of writing detailed PRDs and then waiting weeks for engineers to build a basic prototype are rapidly fading. AI development environments can change this workflow entirely.
Imagine taking a well-defined PRD for a new feature and inputting it into an AI tool like Lovable, v0, or Replit. Within minutes, you can have a functional, interactive prototype. This capability opens up powerful new possibilities:
Instant user validation: Get feedback on a tangible, clickable prototype, not just static mockups.
Improved team alignment: A working prototype communicates ideas far more effectively than lengthy documents, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Rapid iteration: Adjusting flows or trying different interactions becomes a matter of a few prompts, allowing for quick experimentation.
I recently used an AI tool to build a basic CRM prototype from a PRD in under 10 minutes. The speed at which I could bring an idea to life and get an interactive version for feedback was a significant shift. It demonstrated that the focus could move from painstakingly building to rapidly experimenting and validating, before committing extensive engineering resources.
Your Essential AI Toolkit for Product Management
Navigating this new era means familiarizing yourself with a new set of tools and adopting a different mindset:
Chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude): Excellent for quick brainstorming, summarizing information, and generating small code snippets.
Cloud Development Environments (Replit, Bolt, v0, Lovable): Ideal for turning concepts into working prototypes and even early-stage MVPs.
Local Developer Assistants (Cursor, GitHub Copilot): For PMs with a more technical background, these can greatly enhance coding efficiency and help with debugging.
The key isn't just in using these tools, but in understanding when and how to apply each one for maximum impact. It involves mastering prompt engineering, troubleshooting effectively, and always keeping the strategic problem at the forefront.
Shift from Scribe to Strategist
The transformation is already underway. Product Managers who embrace AI as a strategic partner will be the ones driving innovation rather than simply documenting it. We have the opportunity to shed the "scribe" label and fully embody the role of a visionary product leader.
It's time to move beyond the minutiae and harness AI to significantly elevate our contributions. Our products, our teams, and our careers will all benefit from this strategic shift.
Are you ready to make the change?