Back in 2023, the product management world was abuzz with bold predictions for 2024. As part of our "Tea Leaves and Tech" campaign, we asked industry leaders to peer into their crystal balls and share their visions for the future. From AI-driven PMs to the rise of the B2B strategist, the forecasts were as daring as they were diverse.
Now, one year later, we're cracking open the time capsule to see which predictions aged like fine wine and which turned to vinegar. Let’s dig in.
Prediction 1: PMs will focus on user needs, customer outcomes, and business goals
"I think the focus of product leaders and product managers will be in user needs, customer outcomes, business targets, and first principles. This is what I'm hearing from everyone working in product management these days. And I think that's a good thing."
In 2024, PMs shifted away from chasing shiny features to solving real user problems. Tools like Amplitude and Mixpanel empowered teams to align user behavior with business outcomes. Companies like Atlassian embraced retention and loyalty over vanity metrics like daily active users, because what’s the point of daily users if they hate your product?
This shift made customer outcomes the true north for digital product adoption. The lesson? If your product wasn’t delivering value in 2024, users weren’t sticking around to find out what else it could do.
Prediction 2: PM roles will diverge. Consumer PMs will shrink while B2B PMs grow senior and AI-driven
"In the consumer world, where builders are similar to users, there’s going to be less need for traditional product management. In B2B, where builders are far removed from users, traditional PMs will thrive."
Reports of consumer PMs’ demise were greatly exaggerated. Companies like Spotify and Duolingo kept their PMs busy refining strategies and creating cohesive user experiences. Meanwhile, senior B2B PMs armed with AI tools thrived, using platforms like Productboard to predict user behavior and refine onboarding flows.
The verdict? Consumer PMs are alive and well, though some are moonlighting as marketers, while B2B PMs are living their best AI-powered lives.
Prediction 3: PMs will embrace cross-functional leadership
"The ability for PMs to gather a very cross-functional group of people to get stuff done is one thing that will remain constant."
In 2024, PMs didn’t just “build the thing”; they built the bridge. Whether it was translating dev-speak into strategy or aligning finance with marketing, PMs acted as the indispensable glue holding teams together. For example, Airbnb’s data-driven approach used key metrics like bookings and host activity to inform business decisions, ensuring alignment across product, marketing, and customer experience teams.
The takeaway? PMs in 2024 were the ultimate translators—fluent in empathy, spreadsheets, and just enough coding jargon to impress engineers.
Prediction 4: PM teams will shrink or reorganize for efficiency
"As many organizations grapple with the need to become lean and efficient, product management teams will shrink or reorganize. PMs who excel at bridging strategy and execution will thrive."
The era of bloated PM teams is fading. Companies like Meta and Google announced layoffs in 2024 as part of broader efforts to streamline operations and focus on core priorities.
While these efforts weren’t solely tied to PM roles, they reflected a growing industry-wide focus on efficiency and reorganization. AI tools like Jira Align are increasingly used to manage workflows, freeing PMs to focus on strategic tasks like aligning adoption metrics with business outcomes. If you weren’t bridging gaps across departments or driving retention in 2024, your value as a PM was under scrutiny.
Prediction 5: PMs will specialize in tech or growth, while remaining generalists across functions
"PMs need to specialize, either as a tech-oriented or growth-oriented PM. At the same time, they should also generalize across company functions like finance, marketing, and sales."
While some PMs specialized in growth strategies at PLG-focused companies like Slack and Notion, others at larger firms stuck to their lanes. The dream of PMs mastering SEO, finance, and sales all at once? A little far-fetched, turns out, there’s only so much one person can do.
The reality? PMs collaborated across functions rather than owning them entirely. It’s hard to be a jack of all trades when your backlog still needs grooming.
Prediction 6: AI will shrink PM teams while scaling their impact
"You're going to see fewer PMs, much more senior, scaling themselves with AI. Less prioritization and road mapping, and more big-picture strategy work."
AI tools like Productboard and Mixpanel helped PMs automate tasks like prioritization and user segmentation, but the widespread shrinking of teams didn’t happen. Companies like Atlassian even expanded their teams to tackle increasingly complex ecosystems.
The real story? AI helped PMs do more with less, but the human element, aka someone to say, “What if we didn’t build that feature?”, remained essential.
Prediction 7: The PM role will continue to evolve without an "end state"
"The PM role is always evolving. The ability to adapt is what defines success in this field."
If one thing’s clear, it’s that the PM role has no final form. From integrating AI to mastering data analytics and GTM strategies, PMs are constantly adapting. As the Harvard Business Review on Product Leadership 2024 put it, “The PM role evolves at the pace of technological advancement, and then some.”
Think of it as professional evolution on steroids.
Prediction 8: Product Marketing and Product Management will become best friends
"I think the product manager role is going to change and that it's going to shift more towards the go-to-market team. I don't think product managers are going to be doing marketing of any kind, but I think they will be expected to be the marketers of what they're shipping."
Traditionally, PMs handed over user interviews and feature briefs to product marketing. In 2024, however, PMs became actively involved in campaign planning, ensuring marketing teams had the visuals, user quotes, and insights needed for success.
This collaboration made product launches smoother and brought product marketers out of their silos. PMs weren’t doing marketing per se, but they became key enablers of it.
Prediction 9: The PM role will shift closer to go-to-market and sales
"I think what we're going to see is a new type of PM that brings in skills that traditionally live within the sales function. They'll think about product design, messaging, and positioning while using customer interactions to inform development and strategy."
While this wasn’t universal in 2024, companies like HubSpot embraced the concept of "sales PMs," with product managers becoming increasingly involved in customer interactions and strategic messaging.
It’s an emerging trend, but one to watch closely as PMs continue redefining their roles.The predictions for 2024 painted a dynamic picture of product management, and reality didn’t disappoint. AI-assisted PMs? Check. Focus on customer outcomes? Double check. Consumer PM extinction? Let’s call that one a swing and a miss.
One thing’s for sure: the PM role isn’t going anywhere, but it’s evolving faster than ever. So, what’s next? Will PMs of 2025 become time travelers, solving user problems before they arise? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about.
What are your predictions for the PM of 2025? Let us know, we’ll keep the time capsule ready.
