How Brian Balfour’s Four Fits framework has been updated for the AI era, and what product leaders can learn from the shift.
AI & Innovation
97 posts in this category covering key insights and strategic thinking.
From Architect to Gardener to Orchestrator in the AI Era
Quick ThoughtHow AI transforms product leadership from building to conducting. The rise of the Orchestrator mindset in product management.
What a Gigawatt of AI Really Means
Quick ThoughtWhat a gigawatt of AI really means, and how abundant intelligence could reshape technology, healthcare, and society.
Product-Agentic Growth reframes how B2B software must evolve: AI agents doing work for users, reshaping PLG with autonomous workflows, predictive expansion, and real ROI.
Most 'AI products' aren't AI-native. Use the Home Screen Test to spot the billion-dollar opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Platform vs Product: The AI Era Convergence
Quick ThoughtAI is collapsing the line between platforms and products. The winners will master both, balancing ecosystems and user experiences.
Atlassian's Browser Move
Quick ThoughtAtlassian’s $610M bet on The Browser Company is bold. Here’s why it makes sense, and the big risks that could derail it.
AEO is the New SEO?
Quick ThoughtA quick look at Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), why it matters for both consumers and businesses, and how it differs from SEO.
The Limit of Metrics
Quick ThoughtMetrics measure the present, but intuition imagines the future. Here’s why great product managers need both — and how to define intuition.
Apple’s Sugar Water Trap
Quick ThoughtApple’s iPhone 17 shows the sugar water trap risk as AI reshapes tech. A lesson for product managers on balancing incremental progress with bold bets.
Learning how to learn is the real superpower for product managers. It’s not about speed, but reinvention, adaptability, and enjoying the process.
Claude Now Builds Spreadsheets and Documents
Quick ThoughtClaude now generates real files—Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDFs—from prompts.
A GTM playbook for feature products competing with platforms in the AI era, focused on delight, speed, and switching costs before the bundle arrives.
APIs are not small. They are the backbone of digital growth and the foundation of agentic AI and MCP orchestration.
OpenAI’s GPT-realtime Brings a Step Forward in Voice AI
Quick ThoughtOpenAI’s GPT-realtime unifies voice AI into a single model. See why its technical leap and early adopters make this the moment voice AI goes mainstream.
The Token Squeeze is Real
Quick ThoughtAI isn’t getting cheaper. Token demand is exploding, and flat-rate subscriptions are doomed. What pricing models can survive the squeeze?
When AI Bots Rule the Web
Quick ThoughtAI crawlers dominate web traffic, but most don’t send users back. Here’s what product managers need to know about training bots, referrals, and strategy.
Nano Banana and the Future of AI Image Editing
Quick ThoughtGoogle’s Nano Banana is redefining AI image editing. Here’s what it means for creativity, platforms, and trust in the digital age.
What Makes a Real Data Moat
ArticleData moats are the key to AI defensibility. Tesla and Stripe show what makes them real and how product teams can build them.
AI in Product Management
Quick ThoughtAI is moving fast in product management, from PRDs to prototypes. Here’s what research shows, what’s missing, and how PMs can lead.
Agentic Browsers Meet Their Hardest Test: Security
Quick ThoughtAgentic browsers face significant security risks, such as prompt injection, but early defenses demonstrate why security will be the true differentiator.
Product Culture Is Your Real Operating System
Quick ThoughtStrong product culture drives better decisions, innovation, and outcomes. Leaders shape it daily through hiring, rituals, and behaviors.
In B2B, escape velocity isn’t enough. Startups must turn rapid distribution into lasting defensibility before incumbents close the window.
Curiosity Beats Tenure in the Age of AI
Quick ThoughtJunior developers’ curiosity and adaptability make them the most AI-native talent. Cutting them now risks weakening future innovation.
Agentic AI Needs APIs to Act
Quick ThoughtAgentic AI can reason, but it needs APIs to act. APIs are the execution layer that makes AI autonomy real.
No New Ideas in AI? The Power and Limits of Data
Quick ThoughtA critique of the idea that AI progress is only about data, exploring the role of algorithms and human creativity alongside new datasets.
Observability Now Includes Watching AI
Quick ThoughtAI observability means monitoring accuracy, drift, and hallucinations, not just uptime. PMs must treat it as a core product feature.
Fixing Google SEO Indexing Issues with ClaudeCode
Quick ThoughtFixed Google SEO indexing issues using ClaudeCode by adding canonicals, updating the sitemap, and cleaning redirects—no SEO expertise required.
Why Empathy, Not IQ, Defines Success in the AI Age
Quick ThoughtEmpathy and critical thinking—not IQ—are the keys to thriving as a product leader in the AI era.
Build, Buy, or AI-Build
Quick ThoughtVibe-coding opens a new AI-build path, but Marty Cagan’s point on business rules shows its limits. Can AI ever capture this hidden and complex logic?
Vibe-Coding Is Early But Already Changing SaaS
Quick ThoughtVibe-coding is still early, but already empowers non-technical builders while pressuring SaaS vendors to deliver leverage beyond features.
Practical playbooks for product leaders to adapt and thrive in the AI era using wedge expansion, jobs-to-be-done, and dual transformation.
Why AI disruption challenges startups and giants while firms with product market fit adapt faster, explained through proven strategy frameworks.
Making Product Decisions with a Bets Mindset
Quick ThoughtHow leading product teams use betting principles to make smarter decisions, test ideas fast, and adapt quickly to real-world results.
Learn why smart product managers match channels to product and target, not trends, with a simple hospital software example.
AI Risks to SaaS Companies
Quick ThoughtGenerative + Agentic AI is accelerating feature commoditization; read the room and adapt.
AI is reshaping product management. Learn how to map, optimize, and automate your systems before someone else does it for you.
The Power of an Anchor - Warby Parker's Pricing Strategy
Quick ThoughtWarby Parker's playbook for product managers. Learn how the company uses pricing strategy, vertical integration, and innovation to grow.
From Promise to Practice - AI's Real Impact on Medicine
Quick ThoughtReal-world data on AI in medicine. Where it works (imaging, drug discovery), why it fails (data, integration), and what actually drives adoption.
How AI LLMs are transforming healthcare by empowering patients with PhD-level medical knowledge and reshaping the entire industry ecosystem.
The Winner's Curse: Rhyming History in the AI Era
Quick ThoughtWhy AI disruption differs from past paradigm shifts: faster cycles, probabilistic computing, and why today's tech winners face an accelerating curse.
Vibe Coding and Test-driven Development
Quick ThoughtVibe-coding coolness
PRDs aren’t dead—they’re evolving. Learn how to modernize product requirements with outcome focus, living documents, and AI-powered prototyping.
How to Make OKRs Work
Quick ThoughtPractical tips to make OKRs work: writing strong objectives, measurable key results, and avoiding common pitfalls in execution.
Why OKRs Matter
Quick ThoughtLearn why OKRs matter, how they align teams, and the four superpowers that make them a proven framework for execution.
Learn how to move beyond delivery and adopt a strategic product mindset with practical steps, proven frameworks, and customer-first thinking.
The Questions Great Product Leaders Ask
Quick ThoughtGreat product leaders don’t rely on perfect foresight. They ask sharper questions that cut through ambiguity and lead to better decisions.