Best of LinkedIn: Digital Products & Services CW 46/ 47

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgeier and Frennis, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about digital products and services in calendar weeks, forty six and forty seven.

00:00:10: Frennis is a B to B market research company, helping enterprises gain the market, customer and competitive insights needed to drive customer centric and cost efficient product development.

00:00:21: Welcome back to the deep dive.

00:00:23: Today, we've done, well, a pretty serious information extraction mission for you.

00:00:28: We certainly have.

00:00:29: We've come through the most concentrated high-impact insights from top leaders in ICT and tech, all from LinkedIn over the last two weeks.

00:00:37: That's right.

00:00:38: Our goal here is to give you a real shortcut.

00:00:40: To distill all that noise into the essential knowledge, you need to know where the industry is moving.

00:00:45: And we've spotted four massive shifts.

00:00:47: Yeah, we're looking at how AI is creating totally new roles and speed metrics.

00:00:51: Then there's the real solidification of product operations.

00:00:54: And a big evolution in product strategy moving way beyond just the feature roadmap.

00:00:59: And finally, a really interesting one, regulatory pressures like the digital product passport that are now actually driving innovation.

00:01:06: OK, so let's jump right into the big one because it really feels like it's defining everything else right now.

00:01:10: AI, agentic systems, and what that means for engineering velocity.

00:01:15: It's huge.

00:01:15: We're past the point of asking if AI can help.

00:01:18: Now it's about full standardized AI tool chains that are just fundamentally changing how fast teams can ship.

00:01:26: It's the difference between using it as a little helper and integrating it as part of the actual pipeline.

00:01:31: Exactly.

00:01:32: Paul Alexander showcased a great example of this.

00:01:35: He detailed a rapid, six-print framework where teams are combining tools.

00:01:40: You know, UX pilot for prototyping, cloud for content, bolt for deployment.

00:01:45: And it moves them beyond what he called, and I love this phrase, vibe-coded prototypes.

00:01:49: Right.

00:01:50: Straight into deployable, usable products.

00:01:53: It standardizes the whole delivery process.

00:01:55: But that kind of velocity... I mean, it implies a huge change in how a product manager actually structures their day-to-day work.

00:02:01: Oh, absolutely.

00:02:02: The integration has to be structured.

00:02:03: It can't be ad hoc.

00:02:05: Alexei Biric really highlighted this need.

00:02:07: What did he suggest?

00:02:08: Well, he mentioned using repositories like Cursor for Product Managers.

00:02:12: It's basically a toolkit that lets you chain AI-powered templates together for the entire lifecycle.

00:02:18: So for everything from like, strategic alignment?

00:02:21: Exactly.

00:02:21: Using something like the Prism Framework.

00:02:24: all the way to co-writing detailed PRDs and setting OKRs.

00:02:28: It basically makes AI a formal team member, not just a brainstorming buddy.

00:02:33: But, you know, speed is a double-edged sword.

00:02:35: Melissa Perry raised a vital warning about this.

00:02:38: The

00:02:38: build trap.

00:02:39: Yes, exactly.

00:02:40: AI just accelerates the build trap.

00:02:42: If your strategy is flawed to begin with, you're now just shipping the wrong features faster than ever.

00:02:47: And that is the core dilemma, isn't it?

00:02:49: Alexander really emphasized this.

00:02:50: He said, the focus has to shift from building fast to building deep.

00:02:54: Deep.

00:02:54: What does that mean in practice?

00:02:56: Well, Anyone can wrap an API around a large language model and ship something quickly.

00:03:01: But a lasting, defensible AI product, that needs real depth.

00:03:05: So deep model understanding.

00:03:07: Complex orchestration, data governance, performance tuning, that's strategy, not just hacking.

00:03:12: And

00:03:13: that means we have to completely revisit how we test our assumptions.

00:03:17: Because if a model drifts or compliance issue pocks up, the whole thing fails.

00:03:21: And your traditional MVP It just doesn't capture those unique AI risks.

00:03:27: Garima Junage is pushing this concept of the AIRT.

00:03:30: The riskiest assumption test.

00:03:32: Yes.

00:03:32: You isolate the one assumption that, if it's wrong, kills the entire product.

00:03:38: Is the model accurate enough?

00:03:39: Is it compliant?

00:03:40: You test that one critical piece first.

00:03:42: This whole shift, it's now bleeding into organizational design.

00:03:46: And this is where it gets really fascinating.

00:03:49: Vivienne Wei pointed to the emergence of agentic AI as a managed capability, and with it, a brand new role, the agent manager.

00:03:56: It's like a product manager, but for your AI teammates, you're defining the agent's vision, its roadmap, its success metrics.

00:04:01: It's

00:04:01: just like a human team member.

00:04:03: So as Karamjit Singh notes, the AI PM is no longer just managing a model.

00:04:07: No.

00:04:08: They're orchestrating a whole layer of intelligence.

00:04:10: They're defining the roles for these digital teammates in these complex autonomous ecosystems.

00:04:16: It's a huge change in accountability.

00:04:18: And it demands a level of data literacy and systems thinking.

00:04:22: that's just.

00:04:24: It's way beyond the average product role today.

00:04:26: A massive signal for where careers are heading.

00:04:29: Okay, so we've unlocked this incredible speed and complexity with AI, but velocity without structure

00:04:36: is just chaos.

00:04:37: Right,

00:04:37: which brings us to our next theme, the operational foundation that's becoming non-negotiable, product operations.

00:04:44: Products, the function designed to absorb all that chaos.

00:04:48: Iowana Giannicole describes it perfectly.

00:04:51: She calls products the translator and the problem solver.

00:04:54: So they're simplifying processes, stabilizing data flows between all the tools.

00:04:58: Exactly, and bridging the gaps between silos like engineering, BI, and customer support.

00:05:02: They're the grease and the gears, making sure PMs can focus on discovery instead of, you know, fighting fires or wrangling data.

00:05:08: Right.

00:05:09: And Mark Abraham points to the future state of this, as AI starts removing the more routine tasks.

00:05:14: Like basic data stabilization.

00:05:16: Yes.

00:05:17: Pradovsk gets freed up to focus on higher value work, like designing global operational governance and system-wide efficiencies.

00:05:23: It becomes a strategic function.

00:05:25: That makes so much sense.

00:05:27: But we have to bring in a crucial warning here from Stephen Greeney's.

00:05:31: The expensive theater.

00:05:32: Expensive theater, yes.

00:05:34: He says just renaming business analysts or project managers as product managers doesn't create a product organization.

00:05:41: He's hitting on a fundamental difference in where the role operates.

00:05:45: BAs or traditional PMs, they're usually downstream.

00:05:49: They document requirements for something that's already been decided on.

00:05:52: Precisely.

00:05:53: A true product manager has to operate upstream.

00:05:56: They have to discover which problems are even worth solving in the first place.

00:06:00: So how does a leadership team actually check for that?

00:06:03: It's one thing to say change the mindset, but

00:06:05: you have to look for the behavior.

00:06:07: Grinees says you look for the mindset.

00:06:08: Yeah, the analysts who won't stop asking why?

00:06:10: who challenges everything.

00:06:11: And you have to change how you measure them.

00:06:13: That's the key.

00:06:14: Measure them on customer insights gathered and outcomes achieved, not on task completion.

00:06:19: If their bonus is tied to output, the system will never change.

00:06:22: It's a powerful point.

00:06:25: Okay, let's shift to our third theme, strategy, lifecycle, and analytics.

00:06:31: Because once you get the structure right, the execution still has to evolve.

00:06:34: For sure.

00:06:35: Lore Giddings highlighted a critical mindset shift here.

00:06:38: Teams have to stop treating launch as the finish line.

00:06:41: It's the starting line.

00:06:43: It's just the beginning of a continuous feedback loop, monitoring, observability, that's now central to every single release.

00:06:51: And the

00:06:51: strategy itself has to be just as continuous.

00:06:54: I loved Kim Herbig's analogy for this.

00:06:56: The

00:06:56: coffee one.

00:06:57: The filter coffee analogy, yeah.

00:06:59: The tool, the pour over device, that doesn't really matter.

00:07:02: What matters is deliberately tuning the variables.

00:07:04: The water temperature is your strategy.

00:07:06: And the coffee to water ratio is your customer evidence.

00:07:08: If you don't tune those inputs, the outputs can be weak no matter how shiny your tool is.

00:07:12: That focus on inputs requires absolute clarity from the start.

00:07:16: FolaShadoGanaki reminded everyone about foundational frameworks like the five C's.

00:07:20: Customer,

00:07:21: company, competitors, collaborators, and context.

00:07:24: Just to make sure everyone is starting from the same clear base.

00:07:27: And that clarity has to translate into how you communicate.

00:07:31: Stephanie Liu is really insistent that leaders must own the story behind the roadmap.

00:07:36: The red thread.

00:07:37: Yes,

00:07:37: the red thread that connects the docs.

00:07:39: If it's just a list of features, stakeholders lose trust because they don't see the vision.

00:07:44: And the data supporting that story is increasingly about retention, not just revenue.

00:07:48: Aiden Zaipur made this point very strongly.

00:07:51: It's a huge sign of maturity.

00:07:52: For sophisticated organizations, product analytics isn't just a dashboard anymore.

00:07:57: It's a leadership system.

00:07:58: A leadership system.

00:07:59: How so?

00:08:00: It

00:08:00: guides priorities.

00:08:01: It allocates resources.

00:08:03: It enforces alignment because everyone is looking at the same outcome data.

00:08:07: And we saw this almost contrarian case study from Ockoff Gupta about the company linear.

00:08:12: A one point two five billion dollar valuation with only two product managers.

00:08:17: It's incredible.

00:08:18: And their method is so unconventional, they prioritize directness, no busy work and momentum.

00:08:23: And they famously avoid a lot of traditional processes like heavy AB testing or tons of dashboards.

00:08:28: It really proves that a highly focused model with strategic clarity can just drive.

00:08:34: immense success.

00:08:35: It's the ultimate validation that outcome matters more than output.

00:08:40: Okay, let's shift gears completely.

00:08:42: Theme four.

00:08:43: Regulations, sustainability in Europe.

00:08:46: This is an area where compliance is no longer just a cost center.

00:08:49: No, it's becoming a commercial driver.

00:08:51: A competitive advantage even.

00:08:53: The

00:08:53: EU's digital product passport, the DPP, is a perfect example.

00:08:58: The Yogo Carnero de Silva gave a clear warning for industries like fashion and manufacturing

00:09:03: that your tech packs must include this DPP info now.

00:09:06: Things

00:09:06: like end-of-life treatment, repairability, substances of concern.

00:09:10: If you don't have it, your product could be obsolete the day it launches.

00:09:13: The stakes are that high.

00:09:15: But, as you said, the industry is reframing it.

00:09:17: Kostas Dedaskalu sees the DPP as creating a universal digital twin layer for products.

00:09:23: Strengthening traceability, transparency,

00:09:25: and circularity.

00:09:26: And you're seeing companies like IBM respond with solutions like product for DPP, which connects gen AI and data to turn that compliance into real commercial value.

00:09:35: And

00:09:35: the ambition isn't just European.

00:09:38: Thomas L. Rodin confirmed there's international work happening in China and in ISO committees.

00:09:43: Right.

00:09:43: Moving toward a globally interoperable DPP framework.

00:09:48: That would be huge for reducing complexity.

00:09:50: But even

00:09:51: with that push for alignment, regulatory divergence is still a major hurdle.

00:09:55: Oh, absolutely.

00:09:56: Sweeter of a Chanderan detailed this for combination products like products that blend pharma and medical devices.

00:10:02: The FDA wants one integrated submission.

00:10:04: Well, the EMA in Europe wants dual documentation plus a separate notified body opinion.

00:10:10: Your entire submission strategy has to be tailored from day one or you're just burning time and money.

00:10:15: That complexity really underscores the need for skilled, resilient leaders, which brings us to our final theme, product leadership, careers, and learning.

00:10:25: And let's start with a dose of reality from Dr.

00:10:27: Bartżaworski.

00:10:28: Yes.

00:10:29: He really articulated the painful gap between the idealized PM job description and the day-to-day reality.

00:10:35: Reality that often includes a lack of true independence.

00:10:38: Yeah.

00:10:38: You know, you're executing someone else's vision.

00:10:40: And excessive responsibilities, constant pressure to rush decisions without enough data.

00:10:45: Right.

00:10:45: You're forced to focus on the next sprint instead of the long-term vision you're supposed to own.

00:10:49: It's incredibly stressful.

00:10:51: So if that's the chaotic reality, what makes an outstanding PM?

00:10:55: David Pereira argued they lead by context, not by control.

00:11:00: They're the ones challenging the status quo, focusing relentlessly on outcomes and sometimes asking for forgiveness instead of permission to drive value.

00:11:09: And that takes resilience.

00:11:11: Hassan Abdul Malak made a great point that a PM's real strength isn't just measured by successful launches.

00:11:17: No, it's measured by how they navigate the messy parts, the shifting priorities, the uncertainty.

00:11:23: Resilience is the final product they ship.

00:11:26: And as the landscape changes so fast with AI, the very definition of leadership is changing too.

00:11:31: Debbie Wajaja observed that managing a big org is no longer the flex it used to be.

00:11:36: Not at all.

00:11:37: Today's leaders are expected to create leverage, not layers.

00:11:39: They have to stay close to the work, touch the tools themselves,

00:11:42: and maintain that sharp operational judgment.

00:11:44: Exactly.

00:11:45: That hands-on curiosity is what keeps their strategic intuition relevant in a world where AI is rewriting the workflows every day.

00:11:53: It's a necessary humility.

00:11:55: It reminds me of that career advice from Lenny Rechitsky, that sometimes you have to take one step backward to take two steps forward.

00:12:02: Yeah, you might need to step out of pure management to upgrade your intuition to make sure you're still an expert guide.

00:12:07: Continuous learning is everything.

00:12:09: So let's try and wrap this all up.

00:12:10: OK,

00:12:11: so synthesizing all this.

00:12:12: Yeah.

00:12:13: The digital product world is accelerating like crazy, driven by AI.

00:12:17: This demands that we build deeper and smarter, validated by new things like the AIRA.

00:12:23: And product operations is no longer optional.

00:12:26: It's the essential structure for that velocity.

00:12:28: Right.

00:12:28: And finally, external pressures like the DPP are becoming catalysts for real innovation.

00:12:33: At the end of the day, success is shifting from just mastering a process and

00:12:37: making the smartest possible strategic bets validated by data and supported by resilient hands-on leadership.

00:12:43: That's

00:12:43: the core message.

00:12:45: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:12:48: Also check out our other editions where we focus on ICT and tech, artificial intelligence, cloud, sustainability and green ICT, defense tech and health tech.

00:12:57: Thank you so much for joining us for this deep dive into the insights defining the modern product landscape.

00:13:01: Make sure you subscribe to stay informed on these essential shifts.

00:13:04: We'll talk to you next time.