The possibilities are exciting. I want to understand what happens when they meet an actual product, an actual customer, and an actual business.
I’ve written quite a bit about what AI could change in software. How we build it. What customers will pay for. Whether the tools we sell today will even look like tools a few years from now.
I have opinions. You may have noticed.
But as I shape the next chapter of Product Incite, I want to spend some time on a more immediate question: What is actually happening inside the teams trying to figure this out?
Maybe you’ve found a use for AI that customers love. Maybe you have a convincing demo and a much less convincing reason for anyone to use it twice. Maybe your team has a dozen ideas, limited time, and three different definitions of “AI strategy.”
Or maybe you’ve looked at the possibilities and decided your customers need something else first.
I want to hear about all of it.
Share your perspective in the Product Incite survey →
The survey is six quick picks, plus an optional comment, for people building or leading software and digital products. No email required unless you want to hear from me.
Think about AI in the product your customers use. Your personal relationship with your agent can remain between the two of you.
There’s a product question underneath all this excitement that I keep coming back to: how are companies driving business value using AI in their products?
Imagine a product that helps someone prepare a report. AI might make the writing faster. But perhaps gathering the right information is the painful part. Or checking it. Or getting someone to act on what the report says. Understanding where the value lives changes what you should build—and whether AI belongs in the solution at all.
That’s the kind of context I want to understand. Where are teams finding value? Where are they getting stuck? What is that affecting, and what decision do they need to make next?
The answers will help shape the way our offerings can help companies get the most value from AI. The direction I’m working toward combines strategic coaching with sleeves-rolled-up collaboration. I want to help teams find worthwhile opportunities, make thoughtful product decisions, and work together toward a functional prototype they can test with customers. Along the way, the team should build the understanding and confidence to take it forward to scale.
A focused workshop could be a useful starting point. For one team, that might mean finding a customer problem worth investigating. For another, it might mean choosing between credible options and agreeing on the next experiment. Where further help is useful, we could continue working together through discovery and prototyping. The workshop itself will be highly valuable in itself… And any continued engagement beyond that will help your team make progress on something that matters.
So, if you’re a founder, product leader, engineer, or someone close to these decisions, I’d appreciate your perspective. You don’t need a success story or an AI roadmap. “We tried it and stopped” is a useful answer too.
Tell me how AI in your product is actually going →
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And if someone else on your team is closer to the work, please send this their way.
— Ryan
