Product at Heart

As a PM, what percentage of your ideas end up getting built? Maybe 5 or 10%? We often accept that we need to throw out the majority of our ideas, but what if there was another way? Jan Werner wants to question the status quo. At Product at Heart, Jan shared how AI tools and workflows have completely transformed the product org at Instaffo. A few examples: ✨ PMs can use Claude Code skills to write code, generate test environments, and refine ideas for features ✨ Product trios can work together to generate prototypes within a single day ✨ PMs, designers, developers, and stakeholders can all access the same "product operating system" to get their questions answered And perhaps the most magical thing of all? More good ideas end up seeing the light of day. Hear more from Jan about how it all works (and they keep the chaos under control) in his keynote: https://lnkd.in/eTeTr7y9 #productatheart

"Can we build it?" was never the fundamental question in product. It's always been "Should we build it?" But it's easy to lose sight of that now that we can build anything in a fraction of the time, says Surbhi Marwah. In her Product at Heart keynote, Surbhi explored what's staying the same in product, despite the explosion of AI tools and capabilities. A few key lessons: 🧑⚖️ Your strength as a product person is the judgment and intention you bring to what gets built. 🤓 While AI can help map complex systems, conversations with people actually bring those systems to life. 📖 You can also identify where communication is breaking down and where a shared language is needed. ⚒️ Sometimes exercising judgment means deciding NOT to build something new and simply fixing something that's broken instead. Learn more from Surbhi about finding the right balance between AI and human skills: https://lnkd.in/ewfcGi2T #productatheart

There's a major difference between Stormtroopers and Jedi (and it's not just their uniforms). Stormtroopers are chaotic but ineffective, while Jedi are intentional and disciplined. There's a lesson here for product people: Radhika Dutt walked us through this in her Product at Heart keynote. A few key takeaways? 🪄 Chasing after everything rarely gets you anywhere. You need focus to be effective. 🪄 Emphasizing the wrong metrics can quickly take you over to the dark side.  🪄 "Use the force" is good advice, but a little too vague to be actionable. Check out Radhika's talk to learn how you can stop being a Stormtrooper and bring the Jedi mindset to your own work. https://lnkd.in/ezcb2_CT #productatheart

"Executive Presentations: Why Good Work Doesn't Sell Itself." That was the title of one of the Hard Problem Clubs at this year's conference - the small-group format we introduced for questions that are too specific for the main stage and too important to skip. Natalia Williams facilitated that room, and she has now written about what people actually brought in: 🗺️ Presenting a multi-horizon roadmap without losing the room 🧩 Reading five different personality types in one exec meeting 📊 Using data to strengthen a narrative instead of burying it None of these are beginner questions. They came from experienced product people. Doing the work and selling the work are two different skills - and the second one usually gets far less deliberate practice. Our favorite line from her post: people left knowing they're "not the only one, and not crazy." Read Natalia's full reflection here: https://lnkd.in/e5qhFhDQ The Hard Problem Clubs will be back in 2027 - June 24-25 in Hamburg. 💛

Simonetta Batteiger wants us to acknowledge something: The territory for product people has changed. And that can feel hard and uncomfortable. So let's start there: If things feel hard for you right now, you're not alone. And once you've sat with those feelings, it's easier to turn them into something more productive. Here are a few ways we can look at these major shifts in our industry as opportunities: ➡️ The problem space is expanding. The opportunity? That means there are lots of problems for us to solve! ➡️ The viability calculus is being rewritten. The opportunity? We have new ways to build trust and deliver value. ➡️ Purchase decisions are now made by human and machine actors. The opportunity? We now have new distribution channels to play with. Watch Simonetta's Product at Heart keynote for a more detailed exploration of these new problems and opportunities: https://lnkd.in/e-AtaAQ9 #productatheart

One of the more honest conversations at Product at Heart this year happened without a stage, a slide deck, or a tidy answer. The Hard Problem Club is what it sounds like: people sitting down with a properly messy problem and working it through together, out loud, in the room. This round, Rich Mironov brought one a lot of product folks will recognise - what happens when the founder or CEO is, in practice, the product leader. It's a tricky spot. Founders carry real pressure for short-term revenue, and that turns into a steady stream of new requests. They also bring market knowledge that's worth listening to. And they get to make the final call, which means product people are often, ultimately, in an advisory role. What made the session work: the founders were in the room too, so it stayed a real conversation rather than a list of complaints. Rich has written the whole thing up. Worth a read if you've ever sat on either side of that table. https://lnkd.in/eA5yRYZT

Product people tend to focus on what AI makes technically possible: faster prototyping, synthesis, and delivery of new features. But one thing that gets left out of these conversations? The true cost of AI products. In his Product at Heart keynote, Dr. Hayder Schneider explained why AI product economics isn't the same as SaaS economics. One simple example? A tweet proclaiming, "Someone on our $50 plan just ran us a $5,750 API bill." 😱 Here's how you can avoid falling into this trap: 💰 Understand that AI products have both revenue potential AND a cost-to-serve 💰 Learn which factors impact each outcome (e.g. the model you use, whether agents are involved) 💰 Don't just assume costs will go down over time—model out different scenarios. Want to get more savvy when it comes to AI product economics? Check out Hayder's keynote here: https://lnkd.in/d_yh6eMC #productatheart

Product work is at an inflection point. Every company is now a tech company. AI changes the economics. And more efficiency leads to more demand. So how do you rise to meet the challenge? Christian Idiodi has a few ideas. In his Product at Heart keynote, Christian reminded us that despite all the market and technological changes, the essence of product has always been about creation. We need to lean into our product creator competencies, including: 🌟 Product sense 🌟 Business acumen 🌟 Strategy 🌟 Discovery 🌟 Human skills like EQ & trust Check out Christian's keynote to learn what this means for product managers and leaders and why this is a bar-raising moment for product people and not a downsizing one: https://lnkd.in/eJ5RPRnp

"There's no Ctrl+Z in hardware." ✨ Kai Stevens handed out buttons with that line at the end of his Hard Problem Club in Hamburg. Eighteen hardware product people, ninety minutes, no air conditioning, on the hottest day of the year. The session sat with what makes hardware discovery different: you commit to a mould or a supplier and that decision becomes a fact of your life for the next two years. So the group worked through which decisions actually deserve de-risking, and how to shrink either the uncertainty or the consequence of being wrong. Kai wrote up how it went, including where the group thought AI genuinely earns its keep: https://lnkd.in/eBb2r2xs

Your data doesn’t disappear when you do. And now there are thousands of products being built to address and capitalize upon that fact. In her Product at Heart keynote, cyberpsychologist and professor Elaine Kasket asked us to reflect on the digital afterlife industry. What impact do “death tech” products have on our psychological wellbeing, our loved ones, and the environment? Join Elaine as she investigates real products and use cases, raising both ethical and practical questions about what it means to build “good” products in this industry. https://lnkd.in/ehcdRNUF