Finding Our Way Podcast, Ep. 69
A conversation about what AI really demands of design and product leaders.
Sure, AI can help you move faster. But are you moving in the right direction? How do you know? These are the key questions Jesse James Garrett, Peter Merholz, and I explored in episode 69 of their Finding Our Way podcast.
Leadership entails acting intelligently — i.e., moving in the right direction for the right reasons. This requires seeing clearly. Tools can help… or they can make it harder while seeming to help.
The question is, how do you do it? I’m a big fan of understanding the technology firsthand. But we must also understand how the technology changes the nature of the work.
AI calls for moving up the abstraction stack. It’s similar to what happened with computer programming, which went from flipping bits to assembly language to higher-level languages and now coding agents. The question before design and product leaders isn’t whether this shift will happen to design: it’s whether they’re ready to lead at the right level.
A bifurcation is coming. The organizations that figure out the role the technology plays in this shift will thrive. Those who do it poorly will crank out work faster — but it’ll be increasingly misaligned with the business’ need.
As I said near the end of the episode: if you come out of any of these conversations feeling like you’ve got the answer, you’re probably wrong. The technology is changing too fast. What you can get is a clearer read on the context. Hopefully, this conversation helps.
Finding Our Way, Ep. 69: In a World of AI, What is the Work Really About?
This post first appeared on jarango.com.