The Product Manager (PM) is often seen as the conductor of a Product team, but is this perspective always relevant? What if a team that relies too much on a PM actually reveals a structural weakness? It’s time to rethink roles so that Product truly becomes everyone’s responsibility.
"In an ideal world, the Product Manager is not necessary." This statement from Benjamin Danel, a consultant at Thiga and expert in Product organization, might make some in the Product ecosystem bristle—perhaps even you! But it is not without foundation: "On one side, there’s Business; on the other, there is Tech. And the two don’t know how to communicate. Tech thinks in terms of constraints, planning, and resources, while Business thinks in terms of value—and it always wants more, faster, like a spoiled child," he explains before adding: "That’s why a PM is needed to balance value and constraints by prioritizing initiatives and maximizing ROI. But if everyone understands each other’s models and works collaboratively, there’s no need for a referee!"
Utopia or inevitable future?
This subject has never been more relevant. The challenging economic environment forces all players to consider business concerns—including Tech. Chloé Dumolard, Product Leader and consultant at Thiga, is unequivocal: "We don’t build a product just for the sake of building a product. We do it to meet business objectives and user needs. A strong Product team has one focus: impact."
Does this mean that Tech should also take on business responsibilities? In part. "Developers remain responsible for technical choices. But they absolutely must think in terms of ROI," warns Benjamin Danel. "Too often, developers want to experiment with the latest technology or deliver something more advanced than what is expected simply because they enjoy it. But there’s an economic reality that must be taken into account, which should also guide the behaviors of developers and architects."
By continuing to focus too much on pure delivery and neglecting business considerations, Product Managers are digging their own graves.
Far from being a utopia, this approach already exists in some organizations. Chloé Dumolard has seen it firsthand during her work at Thiga. "In the past, I worked with a small team that already had a strong Product culture. We truly collaborated, including on business topics, to evolve the product," says the co-author of Les Clés du Product Management, one chapter of which focuses on the relationship between the PM and their team. "Currently, as a ‘floating’ PM, I don’t have a dedicated team, but I work on Trust & Safety issues. One of the teams I support doesn’t have a PM, yet that doesn’t stop them from making certain business decisions to evolve their scope. In reality, having a PM is not a prerequisite for making an impact." In other words, while a PM cannot build a product without a team, a team can build a product without a PM.
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Product Manager: a role on the brink of extinction?
Does this mean the end of Product Managers? According to Benjamin Danel, the future of the role is in their own hands: "PMs typically spend too much time with Developers. By continuing to focus too much on pure delivery and forgetting strategy and business, they are digging their own graves." If the role of Product Owner seems directly threatened, this shift represents an opportunity for PMs to evolve within organizations. If a team can move forward without a PM on less critical matters, it would not only gain in speed, but also allow the PM to focus on discovering new opportunities. "Everyone needs to find their place—the one where they add the most value and are the most irreplaceable. For a PM, that place is closer to strategy than to delivery."
This evolution is becoming even more necessary as artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt the Product landscape as we know it. "AI will reduce the number of people in organizations," predicts Benjamin Danel. "And the PM doesn’t directly produce value, unlike a Product Designer who delivers a prototype or a Developer who writes code. The PM helps make decisions. And AI is designed for that. It’s understandable why PMs feel threatened."
Transform to endure
For him, three scenarios could unfold. In the first, the number of PMs in organizations decreases. In the second, middle management disappears. And in the third, which he finds most plausible: "I believe the PM will evolve into a Product Builder. This concept emerged with No-Code. And AI amplifies this power by enabling the generation of code. Granted, the initial results weren’t great," he acknowledges, "but as models improve, the outcomes get better. So, who is really at risk? In my view, it’s junior developers—those handling basic development tasks. In this scenario, PMs take on some development work, leaving complex tasks and overall supervision to a smaller number of senior developers. If AI continues to progress and CIOs/CTOs experiment and embrace it, I believe we’ll reach this point in three to four years."
Chloé Dumolard is more cautious. She believes the concept of the Product Builder has been around for some time: "No-Code isn’t new. It never really exploded. I don’t buy into the idea of a PM who does everything. In my view, technologies like No-Code or AI are mostly useful for small-scale experiments—like validating a value proposition before scaling. That’s where the PM could play a more strategic role." According to her, when everyone focuses on their expertise, the whole system gains in efficiency. "Even though I believe a team can function without a Product Manager, I also think the most effective approach is for everyone to remain focused on their area of expertise. That’s the strength of a triforce organization, where Design, Tech, and the PM each take responsibility for their domain and collaborate to prioritize and make decisions toward a common goal."
Dumolard doesn’t see a team’s dependence on its PM as inherently problematic. "It depends on the context—the number of stakeholders to align, the complexity of decisions, the importance of technical considerations. In such cases, a PM is crucial to incorporate these factors into business decisions. In a company with a strong Product culture, a PM might seem less essential. But in reality, most companies lack the maturity or the right context to do without one. And in large companies or transformation contexts, the PM also plays a key role in evolving team culture and sharing best practices. That’s where their presence truly makes sense." The Product Manager is not necessarily headed for extinction, but rather toward an evolution of their role, with a broader functional scope. "As long as they find their new place in the organization and demonstrate their value," concludes Benjamin Danel.
