A Product Tsunami is Coming

We all probably agree that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the next major disruptive technological change. It’s a hot topic, and there are plenty of articles and news about using AI to enhance daily activities or how it will impact certain jobs.

This article approaches Artificial Intelligence from the perspective of Product Managers, aiming to analyze how these changes will impact digital products and their associated businesses.

In today’s world, technological changes and advancements occur almost every day. However, they can be classified into three different categories:

• Fashionable tech changes: They generate a lot of buzz for a certain period, but they don’t have a long-term impact.
• Regular tech improvements: They contribute to better products and services, but they don’t revolutionize the industry.
• Disruptive tech changes: These are technological changes that have a significant impact on the industry and society, altering the rules of the game and people’s habits.

Disruptive tech changes include significant advancements such as the Internet, digital photography and smartphones. They are the type of changes people born after their appearance take for granted.

This kind of change has a profound impact on the industry, and it can affect companies in three different ways:

1. Some previously successful companies are negatively impacted by these changes and may even go bankrupt. Kodak, for example, was negatively impacted by digital photography.
2. Some companies are indirectly benefited by these changes without significantly changing their core business. For example, lens manufacturers have seen double-digit growth in their business due to digital photography and smartphone disruption. They needed to adapt to this new reality, but their core business (manufacturing lenses) remained the same.
3. Finally, some companies were born thanks to these changes. For instance, companies like Instagram would have never existed without digital photography, the Internet, and smartphones.

If we assume that AI is the next disruptive technological change, we must also predict that significant changes are going to happen. Some successful companies will fail, some companies will be benefited without changing their core business and there will be a great opportunity for new players.

And certainly, you don’t want to be in the first case.

The hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence is merely a symptom, not the root cause of the impending disruption.

The main reason to consider it as a disruptive change is simple: Artificial Intelligence has finally reached a stage where it goes beyond being a mere novelty and can deliver valuable results. Artificial Intelligence engines have ceased to be toys and have become tools that must be taken very seriously. In fact, in some cases, they are achieving better results than human beings.

Furthermore, it is important to note that Artificial Intelligence is already considered aa General Purpose Technology, which are the kind of technologies that have a profound and broad impact in the economy. implies that its impact can be revolutionary across multiple domains, rather than limited to a specific context.

When we refer to “digital products”, we mean mobile apps, websites and even apps on other devices like TV sets or cars.

These technologies and their associated businesses will be influenced by the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and the presence of advanced Virtual Assistants in these main ways.

First: A new way to access and discover services

Currently, when someone needs to find something, Google is the primary reference. Although there are emerging trends, such as using social networks for information search, traditional search engines remain the most significant sources of information.

However, this could change in the near future, with a possibility that many of today’s searches will begin in a conversational engine rather than a traditional search engine. Even if traditional search engines continue to dominate in the future, it is highly likely that a significant portion of searches will shift towards conversational engines, which will have a substantial impact on our businesses.

Presently, most companies invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and App Store Optimization (ASO) to ensure their websites and apps have the necessary visibility. In the future, techniques related to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) will become crucial for services.

If your site fails to attract potential visits from this new source, you will miss out on a significant opportunity. On the other hand, if your competitors are gaining visits from these sources, you could face serious trouble.

However, the impact of service access goes beyond the simple discovery process. In the future, some virtual assistants will be capable of performing actions on behalf of users. In such cases, your service will lose visits and human interactions, which can diminish your ability to retain users, engage in cross-selling, or monetize your site through sources like advertising.

Predicting this second-order effect is more challenging. We may even witness a “war” between virtual service assistants and service providers to counteract this effect. Nevertheless, the impact on discovery and search is significant enough to warrant consideration.

Second: Enhancing the User Experience (UX)

AI technologies have the potential to completely transform the user experience in certain services. For example, it’s possible that services currently reliant on filters and keywords for search may transition to natural language voice-based options, thereby revolutionizing the way users interact with them.

Once again, accurately predicting the exact nature of these changes is challenging. However, it is certain that some services will establish new standards for User Experience (UX) in the near future. Those services that pioneer the development and adoption of these new UX standards will become the new reference point, gaining increased visibility and successfully attracting new users.

Third: Content creation

Content plays a crucial role in various services. In some cases, it encompasses all the assets associated with the products you are selling, such as descriptions, pictures, reviews, and more. In other instances, the content itself is the product, like on a website dedicated to publish articles.

Regardless of the nature of the content, advancements in Artificial Intelligence can significantly enhance both productivity and quality in content creation. Integrating these capabilities can lead to substantial improvements in operational processes for teams or serve as an asset for users who directly contribute content to your product. In the latter case, it closely ties to the previously mentioned User Experience enhancement, but we believe it deserves a separate category due to its significance.

If content holds importance in your service, ensuring its quality and quantity is essential for delivering the best possible user experience to consumers.

Curious fact: I utilized Chat GPT to review this article and enhance its quality. This is especially important to me as a non-native English speaker.

Bonus track: What if my company lacks AI experts?

It is highly probable that in the future, not all companies will have access to AI professionals or that the inclusion of such profiles would incur additional costs that smaller companies may find challenging to afford. Therefore, we can anticipate a future where many businesses will develop by assisting other companies in incorporating AI models to enhance their products and processes.

This development will be facilitated through consultancy services and existing models, such as AIaaS (AI as a Service), which will grow in relevance over time.

As a Product Manager, you play a vital role in guiding your company through this evolving landscape.

First and foremost, it is crucial for you to stay informed about the upcoming changes. In other words, you need to maintain a clear product vision.

Secondly, you should be an AI evangelist within your company. You should share your vision, express your concerns, highlight potential risks, and identify opportunities on the horizon.

Lastly, you must guide your product team in the right direction, leveraging the resources and context at your disposal. Ideally, you will drive innovation and become a pioneer in this field. In the worst-case scenario, you can fulfill a defensive role, preventing your company from becoming completely disconnected from these forthcoming changes.

However, it’s important to recognize that not all companies will assume the same role, and moreover, not all companies will possess the necessary level of maturity or suitable business context to lead changes in this domain. Regardless of your company’s circumstances, your vision and support are essential for achieving success or, at the very least, mitigating the impact of negative changes.

You are indispensable in ensuring your company’s survival and successfully navigating through this product tsunami.