The Top 3 AI Product Traps of 2024

I'm Polly Allen, and I'm on a mission to help you excel in AI leadership—no coding skills required! Drawing from my experience as a former Alexa AI Principal Product Manager, I'm dedicated to empowering product leaders like you to navigate the ever-evolving AI landscape with confidence and creativity. Don't miss out on future updates and exclusive promotions—subscribe to the email version of this newsletter HERE.

In this edition:

?? WEEKLY INSIGHT:

?? Did you or your team fall into one of our Top 3 AI Product Traps for 2024? Come find out how to set the course straight for 2025 and start closing the gap between "looking AI-innovative" and truly transforming with AI.

??? New Product Leader Podcast Episode: "AI Agents are Taking Over" with Vicki Reiselman, top AI strategist with two decades in tech at Salesforce, Akamai, and Yahoo. Find out what industries are innovating the fastest - would retail surprise you? - and where agentic AI might take us next.

?? Upcoming Learning Opportunities: Rupa Chaturvedi and I are excited to announce our hit 2-week short course on AI is coming to Maven ! As subscribers get your exclusive 15% discount below for our first cohort this December.

Keep the AI overwhelm at bay with these curated insights and opportunities designed to boost your AI leadership.

?? WEEKLY INSIGHT:

The gap between AI confidence and AI competence is growing every week.

More than ever, product leaders are under pressure to integrate AI and claim their companies are "AI-first." But while many settle for AI chatbots or simple add-ons, competitors are working on full-scale AI transformations of their business models. My latest LinkedIn post dives into the dangers of "AI theater"—adding flashy AI features without real transformation.

The takeaway? AI must move beyond surface-level features to truly impact a company’s business processes, user interactions, and strategy. It's time to recognize when your AI architecture is driven by short-term wins rather than strategic goals and understand that while a chatbot might make headlines, the real threat lies in competitors who are reimagining entire business models with AI.

What might that look like in your organization? And what can you do about it to course-correct in 2025? That's what Rupa Chaturvedi and I set out to answer in our upcoming Lightening Talk, "The Top AI Product Traps of 2024 (and How to Fix Them)". We're looking at the root causes for the confusion, misalignment and overwhelm many teams are facing with AI right now - and providing practical guidance and frameworks to get back on track.

Don't miss out - your 2025 AI roadmap will thank you!

FREE registration: SIGN ME UP!

(And yes, the recording will be made available afterwards - but you won't want to miss the opportunity for a live Q&A at the end!

??? New Product Leader Podcast Episode:

This week, Vicki Reyzelman , an AI strategist with two decades in tech at Salesforce, Akamai, and Yahoo, joined me to discuss why some industries are sprinting ahead with AI while others hold back. Vicki shares her practical advice for getting started in AI and why networking and leveraging free resources can ease the learning curve.

We also explored the speed at which AI is reshaping industries like retail and manufacturing, contrasting it with more risk-averse sectors like banking and healthcare. Where is Agentic AI taking hold? Come learn from someone with boots on the ground at boundary-pushing companies.

Want to hear more? Tune in to this episode for an engaging look at AI’s role in shaping industry futures and what it takes to get started.

?? Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Don't let 2024 slip by without getting your arms around AI - by getting hands-on. Rupa Chaturvedi are firm proponents of learning by doing - and the applicability of our course is the #1 most raved-about benefit from our AI short course. The course has been running for nearly two years, with and over 12 cohorts and over 1,000 graduates across Maven and Reforge.

This December, we're revamping the course and launching in on Maven - with deeper dives for product and design leaders on several key topics, from discovery for AI products to creating data plans to the latest AI no-code or low-code prototyping tools.

We're excited to offer our newsletter subscribers an exclusive 15% discount - available until November 20th! Whether you're an AI novice or a bootcamp afficianado, this course will help you get clear on the right projects to build, and how to design and prototype them for validation, setting you up for success on any AI project you're taking on - from something you need for your day job to an AI portfolio project.

Course: Mastering AI Strategy: From Ideas to MVP

Dates & Times: Dec 3 - Dec 15, 8 - 9:30 AM on Tuesdays & Wednesdays (4 Live Sessions!)

Registration Link: Register HERE to get your 15% discount with code EARLYXMAS by November 20th!

That's it for this week!

Stay curious, Polly

P.S. AI isn’t about knowing every technical detail; it's about understanding how to make it work for people and products. Thanks for being here as we shape the future of AI leadership together. See you next time!