LaunchDarkly's approach to AI-powered product management

OpenAI

March 4, 2025

A conversation with Claire Vo, Chief Product and Technology Officer of LaunchDarkly.

Our Executive Function series features perspectives from leaders driving transformation through AI. 

LaunchDarkly⁠(opens in a new window)’s platform enables engineering teams to ship software and AI applications with the highest levels of control and velocity. We spoke with Claire Vo, Chief Product and Technology Officer, about the changing role of product managers, her anti-to-do list, and building AI-native teams.

It’s funny, people often think I’m being incendiary, but I’m actually quite serious. I legitimately think that the traditional concept of product management is going to change dramatically. For a long time, product managers have been viewed as the “CEO of the product,” or as strategic coordinators responsible for bridging gaps between functions like engineering and design. But, under this role, what happens is that a lot of product managers don’t really own the business or the execution and sit in this nowhere land of influence without ownership. 

With AI, many tasks traditionally handled by product managers—such as translating customer insights into buildable features—will be automated. And some of these traditional tasks will shrink, meaning PMs will have more time to add value in different ways.

In my view, there are now two potential paths for product managers:

• Becoming more commercially oriented. This could involve taking on a GM role, with compensation tied to the performance of the business line.

• Collapsing traditional boundaries. Roles like product management, design, and engineering converge, creating a new type of leader responsible for end-to-end product development.

Defaulting to the middle ground of coordination without ownership is unlikely to be a path for product managers in the long term.

Absolutely. In my case, I get to do both. 

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Every time I do something I find annoying, I ask myself, how can I not have to do this again?

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