AI's Strategic Role in Product Management

Substack Week: AI in Product Management, Enhancing Product Development Through Artificial Intelligence with Toni Dos Santos

In this Substack Week episode, we explore how artificial intelligence is transforming product management with Toni Dos Santos, co-author of The Product Courier newsletter. From automating routine tasks to enhancing strategic decision-making, Toni shares practical insights on leveraging AI to build better products faster and more efficiently.

From Music to Banking to AI Product Management

"I wanted to work in that area to find ways to put innovation to service to the consumers, and making it as invisible as possible."

Toni's journey into AI and product management began in an unexpected place - the music industry. After working as a music producer, his interest in innovation led him to banking, where he discovered the untapped potential of data analytics. His experience working with machine learning and deep learning in banking laid the foundation for his current work with generative AI in product management. The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked his deep dive into applying AI to product management challenges.

Revolutionizing User Story Creation with AI

"User stories are a big pain for many product managers, particularly junior ones... The idea is that you provide the AI with a PRD or description of the product, and it's going to write user stories based on best practices."

Toni explains how AI can transform the process of writing user stories by automating the initial drafting while preserving the essential collaborative aspects. He emphasizes that while AI can handle the mechanics of writing, the real value comes from using it as a springboard for deeper discussions with the team. The technology can suggest edge cases, highlight potential gaps, and provide a structured foundation for further refinement.

AI as a Tool for Understanding User Needs

"Use all the transcripts, the feedback from user interviews that I have, feed it to AI and retrieve from it the key pain points, the major patterns that it identifies."

Rather than replacing human insight, AI serves as a powerful tool for analyzing user feedback and identifying patterns. Toni shares practical examples of using AI to:

• Process and analyze app store reviews at scale

• Identify clusters of users with similar pain points

• Extract key themes from user interviews

• Validate qualitative findings with quantitative data

Strategic Role of AI in Leadership

"For product leaders, they should be the ones thinking how AI will affect their work because to define a strategy, to define a roadmap, AI can summarize tons of data, tons of information that you cannot do yourself."

Toni challenges the notion that AI primarily impacts lower-level tasks. He argues that AI's ability to process vast amounts of information makes it particularly valuable for leadership roles. Leaders can use AI to:

• Prepare more effective meetings with relevant agendas

• Create alignment across different departments

• Practice important presentations and interviews

• Generate and evaluate strategic options

Best Practices for Getting Started with AI

"The best resource is to go into it... get ChatGPT, Gemini, whatever, and just dive into it and try and get learning and start practicing right away."

For product managers looking to incorporate AI into their workflow, Toni emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience. He recommends:

• Starting with practical experimentation rather than just theoretical learning

• Understanding AI's limitations (20% error rate) and always double-checking outputs

• Treating AI interactions as conversations rather than one-off prompts

• Focusing on areas where AI can augment rather than replace human judgment

Resources For Further Study

• BOOK: Bret King, Bank 3.0: Why Banking Is No Longer Somewhere You Go But Something You Do

• Toni’s Product Courier Newsletter

• The AI focused episode with Marshall Goldsmith

• AI Course by IBM: Armin Ries, free AI course by IBM

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About Toni Dos Santos

Toni is a seasoned B2B product strategist with 15+ years of experience, having guided over 250 SMEs and large enterprises. As a former SaaS founder, Toni specializes in accelerating time-to-market, driving sustainable product growth, and aligning product strategies with business goals. His tailored approach empowers leaders to prioritize impactful solutions and boost revenue.

You can link with Toni Dos Santos on Substack.