Watched Jiaona Zhang’s Reforge talk on product leadership. It’s a dense one — part philosophy, part tactical operating manual. These are the notes (and reactions) I don’t want to forget.

We’re in an in-between moment where PMs are both strategists and builders again. Jiaona calls it a new playbook, but it’s really a reminder that our leverage has changed.

1. Mindset: From Managing to Skating Where the Puck Is

The core shift is from execution to direction. PMs aren’t project managers. Strategy, speed, and capacity define the role. Capacity now encompasses people, agents, and workflows.

That framing stuck with me. Speed is seductive, but it can easily turn into chaos if you don’t have clarity about the goal. You can’t automate good judgment.

A useful reminder: the fundamentals haven’t changed. Solve real user problems. Keep your economics sound. Protect user trust, especially when your systems behave probabilistically instead of deterministically.

2. Build Faster, But Make It Mean Something

Zhang argues the new PM superpower is the ability to build, not just spec. Replace documents with prototypes. Automate the “old jobs” like research, customer feedback synthesis, and competitive analysis.

The best part of her message: everyone is a builder now. Support, marketing, and ops can all ship small improvements. The tools are here.

I’ve seen this play out in my own team. The fastest insights come when non-engineers can prototype an idea instead of waiting for a sprint cycle. But speed alone doesn’t create value. You still need the discipline to ask why before you ship.

3. Go to Market as You Build

If you build fast but don’t tell anyone, it didn’t happen. Keeping your source of truth — code, help center, and internal docs — up to date isn’t just good hygiene, it’s how your AI systems and teammates stay aligned.

Automate content creation while maintaining a human review loop. I love that balance. We talk a lot about “alignment,” but it really starts with clean data. If your docs are stale, your AI (and your marketing) will lie.

4. Scale Through Leverage, Not Headcount

The most provocative idea: scale doesn’t come from hiring, it comes from leverage. The best product leaders think in systems, not staffing. The new hire profile is for fast learners, systems thinkers, and builders. Designers who code. Engineers who architect for agents.

The people who tinker on side projects, who learn by doing — they adapt faster than anyone. Coordination-heavy middle layers are fading. Systems and agents don’t need status meetings.

Closing Reflection

The big takeaway: product leadership is becoming a leverage game. You don’t win by adding people; you win by compounding capability — through agents, workflows, and clarity.

If I mapped my own workflows today, how much of it could I hand to an agent? That’s the question I’m sitting with.