In our series on AI’s impact on organizations, let’s kick off by talking about a paper that got me thinking: “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Workers’ Skills: Upskilling and Reskilling in Organisations.“This research really highlights how the AI revolution is shaking up the skills we value most in our employees.
Specializing in a single field? That’s old news.
The integration of AI systems into organisations has raised awareness about the importance to identify and cultivate transversal skills in their workforce.
Transversal skills, also known as transferable skills or soft skills, are those that can be applied across various tasks and industries (Hart et al., 2021). These skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration, which are essential for working effectively with AI systems.
With AI automating more and more tasks, the employees like product mangers, who’ll really thrive are the ones who can adapt fast. They’d be pick up new skills quickly, and apply their know-how across all sorts of areas.
Join me with a deep dive to THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON WORKERS’ SKILLS: UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING IN ORGANISATIONS. A paper published by University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. They wanted to investigate the recent developments in research and practice
on the transformation of professional skills by AI and to identify solutions to the challenges that arise. Which is a perfectly interesting topic that I’d like to based this article on.
Fellow product managers, do you consider yourself a “jack of all trades”?
If yes, congrats! This is your chance stepping up to become the new workplace superstar.
How A Jack of All Trades Product Manager Can Adapt To AI Like a Pro
Forget about “jack of all trades, master of none.”
In the age of AI, it’s all about being a jack of all trades and a master of adaptation and cross disciplinary innovation. The standout employees will be the ones who can not only understand AI-generated work but also give it a sharp-eyed evaluation, across multiple field.
Here’s the deal: as AI starts taking over more specialized tasks, businesses will need employees who can pivot and bring their skills to the table for whatever curveball comes their way.
An agile all-rounder like you, will be the crucial link between AI and human understanding. You’ll make sure AI outputs line up with company goals and values.
But that’s not all – as a multi-talented profession, you will also have a nose for sniffing out fresh ways to harness AI. You’ll be the ones driving efficiency and growth, discovering innovative approaches to unleash AI’s potential across different departments.
In a nutshell, the “jacks of all trades” will be the new “the most valuable players” in the workforce. Armed with a one-of-a-kind mix of skills, you’d be ready to put AI under the microscope, tackle new challenges head-on, and blaze a trail of innovation wherever they go.
Wondering If You Are A Cross-Disciplinary Product Manager?
Ready to take your personal and professional life to the next level?
This figure from the paper has inspired me, and I have decided to take things one step further.
I took the content from this image and the context in this paper and make them into a easy to follow checklist for you.
I hope it will help you understand where you are, and become the best version of yourself facing the AI-era challenges!
Below is the key area that I’ve covered in my quiz. If you prefer a scoring system, scroll to the end of this section, and you will find a URL to the step-by-step quiz.
🧘♀️ Entrepreneurial & Financial Skills
- Do you have a can-do attitude and are you used to tackling challenges head-on?
- Are you able to work smarter, not harder, to maximize your efficiency and productivity?
- Can you spot opportunities and seize them with confidence?
🌈 Environmental Skills
- Do you possess a positive, uplifting mindset that inspires others and attracts success?
- Have you mastered the art of effective communication to build strong, lasting relationships?
- Are you willing to collaborate with like-minded individuals to achieve goals that seem impossible alone?
🎭 Social and Communication Skills
- Are you ready to unleash your inner leader and guide others towards greatness?
- Can you become a master networker, forging connections that open doors to incredible opportunities?
- Do you have the integrity to earn the trust and respect of everyone you meet?
🧠 Thinking Skills
- Are you willing to unleash your creativity and think outside the box to generate ground-breaking ideas?
- Do you dare to be different in a world of conformity?
- Can you sharpen your problem-solving skills to overcome any obstacle in your path?
🌐 Civic Skills
- Are you ready to become a responsible, engaged citizen who makes a positive impact on the world?
- Do you have the curiosity to develop a deep understanding of the world around you and how you can contribute to its betterment?
- Can you cultivate a global perspective that allows you to navigate diverse cultures with ease?
🔧 General Knowledge & Health-related Skills
- Are you committed to continuously expanding your knowledge base to stay ahead of the curve?
- Do you have the drive to develop practical skills that allow you to tackle any challenge life throws your way?
- Are you willing to prioritize your physical and mental well-being to maintain peak performance?
Before we continue, make sure you have taken the self-assessment (or scan the QR code to the quiz).
Want to know how others score? Share this quiz with your friends and help them get some insight on how’d they adapt in an AI world 🙂
Why Product Managers Are More Likely To Be Multi-skilled?
The nature of your role demands a broad set of skills and the ability to quickly acquire new ones. Especially if you are a product managers in a startup, like everyone else you wear different hats under different occasions.
The nature of product management work- cross disciplinary
Regardless, here are some of the reasons why you are more likely to be multi-skilled (given the nature of the job):
- Bridging the Gap: Product managers serve as the bridge between technical teams, business stakeholders, and users. To effectively facilitate communication and collaboration among these groups, they need to have a solid understanding of each domain.
- Rapid Innovation: The software industry is characterized by rapid innovation and short product life cycles. Product managers need to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends to ensure their products remain competitive.
- Continuous Learning: The role of a product manager requires continuous learning and skill acquisition. As they work on different products and face new challenges, they naturally develop a diverse skill set.
- Adaptability is Key: Product managers need to be able to adapt to changing priorities, market conditions, and user needs. This requires a flexible mindset and the ability to quickly acquire new skills as needed.
How AI could change product management tasks – a step to true agile
As AI continue improving its multimodality, there will be more and more tasks can be done by AI. However, product managers are uniquely positioned to harness its power for innovation. Some of the ways that I see product managers can leverage AI include:
- Rapid Prototyping: AI-powered no-code tools can help product managers quickly build and test MVPs. This is enabling faster iteration based on early user feedback.
- Enhanced User Insights: AI-powered analytics tools can help product managers gain deeper insights into user behavior, preferences, and needs.
- Improved Decision Making: AI can help product managers make data-driven decisions about product features, prioritization, and resource allocation.
- Automated Testing: AI-powered testing tools can help product managers ensure product quality and catch issues early in the development process.
- Personalization at Scale: AI can enable product managers to deliver personalized experiences to users at scale, improving engagement and satisfaction.
For A Specialist Product Manager: What You Can Work On
If your quiz results indicate you have room to grow in becoming an AI-ready ‘jack of all trades,’ don’t worry – you’re not alone.
There are clear steps indicated in this paper you can take to get there.
As someone with a specialized skill set, your advantage is that expert knowledge on one topic. Many product managers excel in specific areas, such as technical expertise, user experience design, or cross-functional integration, while having room for growth in others. However, as AI continues to transform the workplace, it’s becoming increasingly important for the specialized-skillset product managers to develop a more well-rounded skill set to adapt and thrive in this new era.
- The first step is to identify your areas of strength and weakness.
Take an honest look at your current skills and knowledge, and consider where you have the most room for improvement. This could be in technical areas like data analysis and AI technology, or in softer skills like stakeholder management and communication. - Start by focusing on developing your core product management skills.
Regardless of your current strengths, skills like user empathy, strategic thinking, and problem-solving will always be critical for success as a product manager. Continue to hone these foundational skills while exploring opportunities to expand your knowledge in other areas.
As you work to expand your skill set, don’t forget the importance of continuous learning and adaptability. The AI landscape is constantly evolving, and what’s cutting-edge today may be obsolete tomorrow. Make a commitment to staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in AI and product management, and be open to new ways of working and thinking.
The Horizontal Integrator: Innovating Across Boundaries
Horizontal integration is the key to innovation in any world let along when AI is slowly chipping in.
This is where I think most product managers have a home-field advantage.
As AI takes over more routine tasks, the most significant breakthroughs will come from the intersection of multiple fields. Consider the example of the smartphone – it wasn’t just a technological innovation, but a convergence of advancements in computing, telecommunications, design, and user experience. The visionaries behind it were able to see beyond the boundaries of any single domain and create a product that revolutionized the way we live and work.
This is where the horizontal integrators truly shine. You are the ones who can look at a problem from multiple angles, drawing on your diverse knowledge and experiences to find creative solutions. You are the ones who has the greatest chance in connecting the dots across different fields. By identify new opportunities for growth and innovation that others might miss.
As you now might have already been playing the roles as someone who bring together teams from different departments and disciplines, and breaking down silos. You could also be the ones who can spot trends and anticipate disruptions before they happen. As such, you are often entrusted with bigger and more challenging projects, and are more likely to be promoted to leadership roles.
As AI automates more tasks, the value of someone who can innovate across boundaries will only continue to grow. The horizontal integrators will be the ones who can harness the power of AI to create new products, services, and processes that revolutionize their industries.
You will be the catalysts for change, driving their organizations forward in an increasingly competitive landscape.
The Shift in Talent Acquisition and Development
To thrive in the AI era, organizations must start prioritizing the recruitment and development of versatile, multi-skilled employees. This shift requires a fundamental rethinking of traditional hiring practices, which often focus on deep expertise in a single area. Instead, companies should seek out candidates who demonstrate a strong capacity for learning, adaptability, and cross-functional collaboration.
This itself is a huge topic, I aim to cover it as part of this series.
In high level, investing in training and development programs that foster broad skill sets and encourage employees to explore new domains will be crucial.
If you are a manager, you need to think of how to cultivate a workforce of versatile, multi-skilled individuals so that your organization can position itself to capitalize on the opportunities presented by AI and stay ahead of the curve.
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The Time to Act is Now
As the AI revolution accelerates, the demand for versatile, multi-skilled product managers will only continue to grow. Small and medium businesses may have a temporary advantage in attracting this talent, as they often require employees to wear many hats and adapt quickly to changing needs.
The time to act is now, for both individual and organizations.
By embracing the power of adaptability and horizontal integration, both individuals and companies can unlock new levels of innovation and efficiency, staying ahead of the competition in an increasingly AI-driven world.
