Product in the Age of AI: When Product Manager and Designer Skills Start to Overlap
I asked 3 Product Managers how AI is changing design and product management roles.
Over the last two years, the rise of AI has reshaped the design world.
This shift goes beyond technology and tools. It’s changing how teams work, how roles evolve, and where power, influence, and ownership sit inside product teams.
Across product teams, AI has changed how ideas move from concept to reality.
Product Managers can now explore ideas, shape flows, prototype solutions, and even build functional products. Developers are moving faster, automating more, and making design decisions closer to the code. As a result, the traditional handoffs between design, product, and engineering feel different than they used to.
One of the questions I get most often from my mentees and fellow designers is:
“What is my role now that Product Managers can use AI to design and build?”
So I decided to explore the designer–PM dynamic through the lens of Product Managers working with AI and designers today.
I invited three amazing Product Managers to share how they experience this shift: how their work has changed, how they feel about the overlap, and how they see both roles evolving.
I asked each of them the same set of questions to understand how they see this shift.
Before getting into their answers, let’s see who they are!
Meet the PMs!
Let me introduce the amazing product managers and incredible women who contributed to this piece, presented in alphabetical order:
Elena Calvillo
Product Manager, author of Prompt-Led Product | Leadership Through Technical Clarity
Elena is a Product Manager with a strong technical background, having transitioned from development into product work. She runs Prompt-Led Product, where she shares practical insights on using AI in product management, from building to clearer thinking and better decision-making.
She’s also the creator of AI Advent Challenge and a growing set of super cool tools and frameworks used by people around the world.
Jesica (Just J)
Senior Product Manager, author of The AI train
Jesica works at the intersection of product, technology, and people. Through her publication The AI Train, she shares grounded perspectives on using AI with intention, focusing on real product work, team dynamics, and navigating change without the hype.
Her writing explores how AI can support clearer thinking, better decision-making, and more human ways of building and leading as products and roles continue to evolve.
Karo
Senior AI Product Manager, author of Product with Attitude
Karo works in the physical AI product space, building tools and systems close to engineering and ML teams. She runs Product With Attitude, where she shares practical, hands-on tips and frameworks on building with AI and turning ideas into real, working systems.
She’s also the creator of StackShelf and Attitude Vault, and a strong advocate for learning by building, judgment over polish, and community-driven growth.
Read their answers below:
1) Briefly describe the product space and team setup you work in.
Elena Calvillo
I work as a Senior PM in a remote setup. My background includes leading digital transformations for legacy systems and working with cross-functional agile teams in the automotive and insurance industries. In my current workflow, I advocate for a prompt-led approach to bridge the gap between business strategy and functional solutions. I always interact with UX, engineering, customer success, and more.
Jesica (Just J)
I work in a consultancy firm that develops software for various industries, with HealthTech being one of them. As a Sr. PM, I collaborate with different teams on both large and small projects. A typical setup includes interdisciplinary teams: usually 1 UX/UI designer, 3–4 software engineers, and 1 QA.
Karo
My day-to-day work sits in the physical AI product space. More specifically, we’re building libraries and tools for developers who build large-scale computer vision systems and refuse to treat ethics as an afterthought.
I operate inside a corporate innovation team, working hands-on with engineers, ML developers, designers, and ethics leads.
Fun fact: Ileana and I used to be on this team together 🤗
2) In a sentence, how would you describe your PM role?
Elena Calvillo
I am a technical and strategic PM focused on using AI to accelerate the discovery process and turn complex requirements into functional prototypes.
Jesica (Just J)
My role is flexible, but I would describe it in order of focus as: strategic → delivery → technical. I enjoy adapting based on the project needs, while always keeping strategy at the center and ensuring that the team’s work drives real business impact.
Karo
I’m lucky to work in an environment where I can do all of that. I operate across three time horizons: do now, do next, and vision. Which, for me personally, is a perfect setup. I’d die of boredom if I were only tasked with execution, and I’d never feel fulfilled if I were only creating vision and strategy without testing and executing it.
3) Since AI became part of your workflow, what has changed the most in how you work?
Elena Calvillo
The speed of execution has changed the most. I don't just write static documentation and wait for feedback anymore. I use AI to generate logic schemas and functional mocks, which allows me to spend more time on high-level strategy and stress-testing business viability instead of manual task coordination.
Jesica (Just J)
AI has impacted several parts of my workflow. The biggest change has been in writing PRDs and specifications: acceptance criteria, detailed specs, and reports can now be supported by AI. We also use AI to summarize meetings and streamline written work, freeing time for strategic decisions, better delivery planning, and architecture definition. On the development side, AI assists with code reviews and unit tests, improving both speed and quality.
Karo
I’ve always been a productivity geek. The kind who runs meetings patiently while mentally wishing they could be played at 1.5× speed. AI amplified that instinct in multiple ways.
Once you’ve tasted the speed of vibecoding, there’s no going back. It’s a bit like realizing you’ve been walking everywhere your whole life and suddenly discovering cars exist.
Then there are AI agents. I now have a rule: if I notice I’m doing the same thing for the third time in a similar setup, I automate it. The time this saves is borderline life-altering.
The biggest realization, though, is this: PMs shouldn’t worry about AI taking their jobs. Instead, they should worry about:
1. being outpaced by PMs who work with AI better, and
2. about what happens if the companies they work for fail to keep up.
4) What skills did AI unlock for you as a PM that you couldn’t imagine doing two years ago?
Elena Calvillo
It unlocked the ability to be a "solo builder" within a large organization. I can now handle high-fidelity prototyping and explore technical logic that used to require a dedicated engineer or designer just to visualize. It has turned my "Product Sense" into something tangible much faster.
Jesica (Just J)
AI has made it much easier to prototype and validate ideas. While UX/UI expertise is still essential, PMs can now use low-code or “vibe-coding” tools to quickly showcase solutions and test concepts before development. This accelerates conversations, drives alignment, and secures stakeholder buy-in—something that used to take much longer without AI.
Karo
The biggest change for me is that I can now turn almost anything into code.
That includes ideas (yes, vibecoding), but more importantly the small, annoying tasks I used to do manually.
The parts of the job that were real work, and that I’d never put on my résumé.
Turning docs into tasks, tasks into reports, reports into slides.
Rewriting the same update in three formats for three stakeholders.
Keeping a running list of dates and decisions.
Updating a single word across a dozen places.
Now all of this is automated.
5) Do you feel PM and designer skills are overlapping more today? How?
Elena Calvillo
Absolutely. I’ve seen this happen before. Years ago when I was a front-end developer, having strong UI/UX skills is what set me apart from average devs. Now the same thing is happening with PMs. The technical barrier to creating UI and functional flows has dropped so much that PMs are moving into the visual territory much earlier. It feels like a collapsing of the feedback loop. Instead of the old handoff of static files, we are both focusing more on system architecture. For me, it feels natural because I’ve always believed that being a hybrid professional gives you a deeper understanding of the product.
Jesica (Just J)
Yes, the roles are overlapping more, though not necessarily the skills. PMs can prototype, but they may not have the intuition or design taste of a professional designer. Initially, overlapping roles can cause friction because ownership shifts, and that’s normal. Teams need to adapt by collaborating differently and valuing each person’s expertise while learning to integrate contributions effectively.
Karo
Yes. A lot of this now comes down to personal skill, preference, and what you negotiate as part of your role.
Historically, the boundary between designers and PMs was shaped by two things: judgment and output. Designer judgment still lives in perception, interaction, and human nuance. PM judgment still lives in strategy, prioritization, and trade-offs.
What changed most is output.
If you can do both, you can do both, and produce output in both. The remaining constraints aren’t capability, but structure: how the team is set up, how ownership is defined, how work is distributed, and whether the company supports flexibility and upskilling in both directions.
That’s where the last remaining friction lives now.
6) With AI changing how we work, how do you see the PM role evolving?
Elena Calvillo
We are becoming logic designers or product architects. The value of a PM is shifting away from backlog administration and toward the ability to prompt and structure the product’s core logic so that AI can help execute the build flawlessly.
Jesica (Just J)
PMs will need to be more hands-on, comfortable prototyping, and increasingly tech- and AI-literate. While there will be different PM styles, all will need to know how to leverage AI to improve decision-making and delivery. Strategic thinking will remain critical, but operational tasks can increasingly be assisted by AI, freeing PMs to focus on high-impact decisions, market research, and stakeholder alignment.
Karo
AI isn’t just changing how PMs work. It’s changing what PMs will tolerate. PMs who don’t feel enabled by their companies to work in new ways will leave. Once you experience the leverage AI brings, it becomes hard to accept roles reduced to coordination and ceremony. Those who feel constrained by outdated processes and tooling will look for environments that let them work in ways that match the current reality.
7) With AI changing how we work, how do you see the designer role evolving?
Elena Calvillo
Designers will become experience orchestrators who finally bridge the gap of what is technically possible. There has always been an ancient fight where designers create complex visuals that look good in a file but are unrealistic for engineers to build. Now, designers will dominate prototyping by using AI to test feasibility in real-time. On the flip side, developers who used to ignore design will now have to curate their "eye" because AI handles the grunt work of coding, leaving them to focus on the quality and polish of the final experience. The role evolves from pushing pixels to ensuring the technical and visual logic actually work together.
Jesica (Just J)
Designers will need to incorporate AI into their workflow to accelerate iteration cycles and explore more possibilities quickly. They’ll also need to design not only for humans but for machines, creating interfaces and workflows that can be understood or even partially executed by AI systems. This is both a challenge and an opportunity to expand the role of design in product strategy.
Karo
In a similar way. Less time in time in Figma and more time shaping systems. Just like with PMs, the designers who feel empowered will be those allowed to experiment and influence decisions earlier. And the ones who aren’t, who are stuck styling AI output, will likely leave in search of environments where their judgment, not just their execution, is trusted.
8) How do you envision a product team in 2–3 years from now?
Elena Calvillo
Teams will be leaner and more integrated. The traditional silos between PMs, designers, and engineers will fade in favor of a unified unit where everyone uses AI to contribute to the build. We will see more "Full-Stack" contributors who can navigate both the logic and the experience.
Jesica (Just J)
In 2–3 years, teams will be smaller, more versatile, and roles more interchangeable. Communication will be fluid, and AI will become an integrated team member, initially as a tool, but increasingly as an agent that can suggest decisions, validate workflows, and flag inconsistencies. Teams that fail to adopt AI risk falling behind. I envision a scenario where AI accelerates alignment, reduces friction, and allows teams to focus on higher-level strategy and innovation, but it doesn't replace human judgment or critical thinking.
Karo
I have no idea. I don’t think anyone has, not really.
But if I was asked today to prepare for a job I’ll start in 3 years, I’d stop optimizing for titles and start optimizing for range. I’d learn how to think in systems, how to turn ideas into something concrete, and spend loooooads of time with people who can share their lived expertise across different domains. I’d get comfortable crossing boundaries and understand the trade-offs they carry. I truly believe the only durable advantage is judgment, agency, and the ability to adapt.
9) If you had to give one piece of advice to any designer navigating this shift, what would it be?
Elena Calvillo
Don't worry about the PM entering your space with AI tools. Use their prototypes as the most detailed set of requirements you've ever had, and then use your expertise to give that product the soul and polished experience that a prompt can't create on its own.
Jesica (Just J)
Start learning and experimenting with AI. Observe how different teams integrate it and incorporate AI tools into your daily workflow. You don’t need to master complex algorithms, the best learning comes from hands-on experience. In my teams, designers who embrace AI early are able to iterate faster, contribute more strategically, and strengthen cross-functional collaboration.
Karo
The same advice I’d give someone preparing to start working in three years: don’t limit your identity to tools and tasks. Link it to judgment.
💭 Closing Thoughts
These answers echoed many of the questions I’ve been hearing from designers lately, and some of the shifts I’ve been noticing myself too. In different ways, all three PMs talked about skill overlap as something that’s already part of how they work.
What’s clear from their responses is how that overlap shows up. It’s not about replacing design expertise or collapsing roles. It shows up in how quickly ideas can be explored and made tangible. AI lowers the barrier to output and shortens feedback loops, allowing PMs to move more fluidly between thinking and making.
At the same time, all three draw a clear line around judgment. While PMs may now produce artefacts that look like design work, they consistently describe design value in taste, intuition, system-level thinking, and shaping how a product holds together over time.
They describe designers spending less time on pixel-level execution and more time shaping how products work as systems, how feasible ideas are, and the overall quality of the experience. In that sense, both roles are changing, but in parallel rather than converging.
A huge thank you to Elena, Jesica, and Karo for taking the time to share their thoughts so openly. Their honesty and generosity made this piece possible ❤️
Make sure to follow and subscribe to their publications:
Thanks for reading 🫶
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What an insightful collaboration! Thank you so much, Ileana, Elena, and Just J 🤗 These questions land in my DMs all the time, so I know this will be incredibly valuable for a lot of people. The idea of PMs as product architects who structure logic so AI can execute is such a useful mental model. Thank you!
It was an honor to be part of this collaboration. Thank you, Ileana, for putting everything together—and thank you, Elena and Karo, as well! It was interesting to see that, although we don’t always have the exact same role as PMs, we share the same vision on how AI is impacting teams and reshaping overlapping roles. Thanks!