2026 is a hard year for PMs.
Many feel anxious because their future looks uncertain. Every week there’s a new “brain” out there ready to replace you, or some combination of skills, prompts, and tools that promises to do your job better than you do.
But does that mean PMs are becoming irrelevant?
I keep hearing about product teams running without PMs at all. Instead they have Product Engineers, a mix of PM and software engineer. And it’s only fair to share what I also hear about them. These teams do ship faster than most. Yet they struggle to get customers to use what they build.
Why?
For many people, the PM role is over. For me, the outdated PM role is what’s over, and soon, for good. Those who adapt to the new version will be well positioned for the market.
Now, you might expect me to tell you the answer is the AI PM. I won’t, because that’s not what I believe.
Let’s talk about the PM journey, where I think it’s heading, and the fork in the road you’ll need to choose.
The irrelevant PM
Most PMs are inside-out PMs. They spend their time talking to people, writing things, and coordinating tasks. This version is a blend of project manager, business analyst, and backlog manager.
Part of that should become irrelevant. And it will.
Exhaustive backlog management should stop. Spoon-feeding software engineers with tasks should be gone. Project management obsessed with predictability and stability should stop too.
Let me clarify a few points before you start disagreeing with me.
Writing helps you clear your thinking, so do more of it. But writing every minor detail into backlog tickets belongs in the past. Your job is to make decisions, not define precise requirements.
As the bottleneck shifts from building software to choosing what to build, your role becomes more strategic than ever.
PMs who insist on writing better user stories, polishing PRDs, or curating the backlog will become irrelevant. Those parts can be AI-augmented while you make the decisions and apply critical thinking.
The two choices you have
AI PM is the fancy name right now, and organizations pay loads of money for it. So many people are chasing it that 90% of Maven courses relate to AI in some way. The mass choice is to position yourself as the AI PM so you can grab the benefits.
In the short term, that will work out very well. But let’s think a little more before you make the call.
Do you see SaaS, Fintech, API, Healthcare, Automotive, or Real Estate PMs out there? Some position themselves as domain or technology experts, and a few companies require it to hire. My view is simple. Domain or expertise are means, not ends.
I recently talked to a Maven instructor who makes seven figures with AI trainings. I’ll keep his name confidential, because he trusted me with a story we all feel but rarely hear.
Over coffee, he told me:
It’s embarrassing, and I’m starting to feel bad. I show PMs prompt techniques, evals, agents, and much more, and they all want playbooks, which I give them. But when I reflect, I’m not making any of them a better PM. I’m teaching them to renounce their thinking. They learn how to use tools that can help, but won’t solve the hard problems PMs face.
When I heard that, I felt sad. I asked him why people buy his trainings. He was open about it.
Anxiety, FOMO, and every other trick. They fear they’ll be irrelevant soon, and they want the cool AI PM positions everyone posts about.
I’m telling you this because it’s my responsibility to keep untrapping product teams. AI is the means, not the end. And you know that.
So should you ignore AI altogether and learn nothing about it? No. That’d be unwise, and it’d be irresponsible of me to tell you so. But you need to learn how to combine strategic product management with AI, not chase AI for its own sake.
Here are your two options.
- The first is to position yourself as the AI PM. Most people are doing this.
- The second is to become the strategic PM who knows product end to end. Only a few are doing this.
The bottleneck shifted from delivery to direction. Most people are doubling down on how to build faster, unintentionally fostering faster feature factories. The PMs who stand out are doubling down on how to identify problems worth solving and create value for customers and the business.
You can use AI to help you do that. But focus on strategic decisions, and accelerate your learning from reality while most people keep playing in fantasy.
It will be a rollercoaster
The path won’t be linear, and leaders don’t always make the best decisions.
I believe some companies will go wild, restructure, and remove PMs, or replace them with Product Builders. It’ll take them time to learn the lesson, but they’ll eventually amplify whatever they do now. Most likely, that means shipping more features nobody cares about.
A few companies will be more rational. They’ll understand the bottleneck shifted, but their objective stays the same: creating value for customers and the business. They’ll adapt how they play the game, and hopefully finally let PMs become more strategic and focus on decisions instead of execution.
Where do you stand?
You can be the guide in your organization. Nobody has the answers right now.
If you position yourself as the guide who brings clarity into chaos, you can grow, gain visibility, build influence, and claim the rewards. But that will require you to try things nobody else is trying.
If you choose to become the AI PM, the market is already flooded. Beware: your job becomes more about doing AI and less about doing product management. The money may be good. For how long, nobody knows.
I believe those who stay true to the craft and use AI to create more impact will remain fundamental to any business.
Some things don’t change:
- Show results instead of outputs
- Talk business potential instead of shiny solutions
- Align people instead of pleasing everyone
- Outlearn your competitors. The faster you learn, the quicker you succeed.
I remain hopeful that after the rollercoaster, solid product people will be more relevant than ever.
The signs are clear to me. After talking to a few VCs and CxOs from NYC, London, Stockholm, and Munich over the last few weeks, I keep hearing the same thing. They’re searching for product people who understand business, not people who master AI. Many key decision-makers already notice the issue isn’t output speed anymore. It’s direction.
Now, over to you. How are you shaping your journey to stay relevant in this crazy world?
Share your thoughts with me, and let’s learn from each other.
Talk soon, David Pereira 100X PM Coach
Why do too many PMs waste their potential?
Sadly too many product people work with an outdated system. They strive to become better at date things. For example writing great requirements, sharpening user stories, or managing backlogs. Such outputs are no longer vital, we need a new operating system to create impact faster.
I’ve just updated my 100XPM mastermind to give you the system most people lack. In this 3 weeks cohort, you’re getting an end to end product leadership operating system that helps you stand out.
We will kick this off in August. And you’ll learn what it truly takes to become the Product Lead that ships value continuously, not just noise.