William Viana

product

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  • AI is Coming for Your Job

    AI tools are slowly but gradually changing the Software Engineering profession. Although some might argue that the gains in productivity are overestimated, I think this is only the beginning. As those tools improve and evolve to become agentic, such as Devin AI, the industry has started to wonder if there will be much demand for Software Engineers, or even if AI could replace engineers altogether. I have colleagues reaching out to me and being worried about their career in a 18-month horizon. I guess Mark Zuckerberg’s recent statement in the now infamous “masculinity energy” Joe Rogan’s podcast episode is not helping either:

    I think this year, probably in 2025, we at Meta […] are gonna have an AI that can effectively be a sort of mid-level engineer that you have at your company that can write code.

    I was initially skeptical about AI’s impact within such a short timeframe. Then, I started to worry. Now, I believe we’re facing a rapid transformation, where Software Engineers must embrace AI tools and work at a higher level of abstraction—but we won’t be replaced. Yet.

    In the short term, before we achieve AGI, I believe we humans still hold some advantage, and what will become increasingly important is our taste and creativity—qualities that LLMs can’t replicate yet. I agree with Lenny’s view here that Software Engineers need to become more focused on products and customer needs. Understanding customer pain points and figuring out what to build will be the most crucial skill. Engineering and Product Management may merge into a new role.

    Will there be the same demand for this new Product Engineer role as there is for Software Engineers? I am optimistic about this and believe there will be even greater demand. This will likely continue until we reach AGI. After that, predictions become increasingly uncertain.

  • Transform Your Product Skills: Review of Shreyas Doshi’s Course

    This weekend, I completed Shreyas Doshi’s Improving Your Product Sense course, and I absolutely loved it. It was a transformative experience that I recommend to anyone involved in building, managing, or leading technology products. And if you’re a PM, senior leader, or someone who frequently wears a PM hat, this course is invaluable.

    I’ve been following Shreyas’ content on Twitter for some time now, and I knew about the course; however, not being a Product Manager myself I still wasn’t sure this course would be for me. Luckily, my former manager had just completed the previous cohort and told me wonders about it. I’m a Engineering Manager of a product team and many times I have to wear a PM hat, so investing in these skills makes a lot of sense to me.

    It’s true that the course is expensive, but if you’re in a senior leadership position this is probably one of the best investments you can make in your career. It’s also true that the course is extremely intense, and the logistics can be challenging if you’re in an European or Asian time zone. But it is absolutely worth it every minute and the extra effort.

    The content is something I haven’t seen anywhere else and it’s evident that Shreyas has spent a tremendous amount of time refining it. Don’t expect easy steps, templates, or feel good frameworks that everyone else knows about. Instead, you’ll leave with the correct mindset to improve your product sense through first principles. This course is essentially a course to improve your clarity of thinking in disguise, which is invaluable beyond product development.

    Yes, there is a Fight Club vibe in this post, as I’m intentionally not sharing any course summary. And yes, it would be better for me if no one else took this course so that I could keep the unfair advantage to myself. But, I know most people don’t care about this stuff. Most people either think they know it all and don’t need this course, or they think they care about improving their skills but they really don’t.

    If you’re curious about the course or how it might apply to your role, feel free to ask me!