Types of AI Product Managers
AI is transforming the role of the Product Manager.
From casual experimentation to building custom models, new archetypes are emerging that reflect how deeply a PM integrates AI into their work.
This article explores AI Product Manager roles and what success looks like for each.
AI Builder PM
AI Experiences PM
AI Enhanced PM
AI Curious PM
This article inspired by the talk Dr. Marily Nika gave at Dan Olsen’s Lean Product Meetup.
The AI Builder PM
The AI Builder Product Manager creates AI models from scratch. These are machine learning models (ML), large language models (LLMs), computer vision models (CV) and more.
They collect high-quality, representative, and ethically sound data to train the foundational model. They must work closely with legal and compliance teams to ensure that data sourcing and model behavior align with regulatory and ethical standards.
Success is creating a model that has robust performance, manageable latency, low cost and prevents itself from being misused.
Many ML and CV models can be built by small teams and companies of most sizes. The LLMs will be built by an exclusive club of very large companies with access to vast amounts of compute power.
DeepSeek is an exception to this model. However, most companies seem to be content to let the bigger companies create the foundational models.
The AI Experiences PM
The AI Experiences Product Manager focuses on fine-tuning or adapting existing models to fit specific business needs, bridging the gap between raw technical capability and product-market fit.
AI will power aspects of their product offering.
They will incorporate the foundational models into their applications, websites, back end logic and more.
These applications range from chatbots to medical diagnoses to specialized workflows. This includes agents that do activities on behalf of users. Users may or may not know they are interacting or using an AI.
They take responsibility for evaluating the ethical implications of AI use, ensuring that functionality doesn’t come at the cost of user trust.
Success in this role requires not only technical fluency but also a strong product sense…knowing when to build, when to adapt, and when to walk away.
These can also be referred to as “wrapper” AIs where there is a thin layer of business logic and user interface wrapping around a foundational AI model. The bulk of AI-based companies will likely be powered by this category of Product Manager.
The AI Enhanced PM
The AI Enhanced Product Manager uses AI tools to improve their own productivity, creativity, intelligence and more.
This PM becomes an expert at prompting and having the AI tools write documents, create prototypes and act as an idea sounding board.
They experiment constantly, integrating AI into everyday workflows and finding new leverage points across the product lifecycle.
The AI Enhanced PM reimagines current workflows to be AI first.
Success for this PM means making better decisions faster, generating stronger artifacts with less effort, and enabling their team to move with greater speed and clarity.
This PM redefines team dynamics by automating routine tasks and freeing collaborators to focus on higher-value work.
Over time, they become a multiplier, not just more productive themselves, but a force that elevates the output of the entire team.
The AI Curious PM
The AI Curious Product Manager is intrigued by the potential of AI but still exploring where it fits in their work.
They experiment with the main foundational models like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini often using them to brainstorm ideas, draft content, or generate lightweight prototypes.
They’re not technical experts, but they’re motivated to learn just enough to be dangerous. This PM reads case studies, attends webinars, and follows AI thought leaders to understand how others are applying these tools.
They may try to use AI to create internal automation to save time on routine tasks.
Success for the AI Curious PM is building confidence through use…moving from dabbling to regular usage.
Over time, they may evolve into an AI Enhanced PM or even an AI Builder PM, depending on their ambition and job role.
The AI-Enhanced Product Manager
Jim coaches Product Management organizations in startups, growth stage companies and Fortune 100s.
He's a Silicon Valley founder with over two decades of experience including an IPO ($450 million) and a buyout ($168 million). These days, he coaches Product leaders and teams to find product-market fit and accelerate growth across a variety of industries and business models.
Jim graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Computer Science and currently lectures at University of California, Berkeley in Product Management.
