How AI is Transforming Product Leadership in UK Tech Teams

AI is no longer just an experiment, it’s changing how products are conceived, built and delivered. For senior product leaders, the challenge isn’t just picking the next tool. It’s figuring out how to integrate AI into strategy, team culture and operations in ways that drive real and measurable business impact.

This was the focus of our Product Leadership Roundtable, moderated by Emma Van Dijkum, former VP Product at Multiverse and now a Product Coach and Fractional CPO. Emma helps product leaders adopt AI effectively and build environments where teams can thrive.

Here’s a practical breakdown of the discussion and actionable takeaways.

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10x Your Leadership with AI

AI can dramatically amplify productivity, decision-making and leadership impact when used thoughtfully. Senior product leaders shared how they’re leveraging AI to enhance personal effectiveness:

• Overcome blank page paralysis

AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI can structure your thinking, draft one-pagers, build frameworks, or outline presentations. They act as a first-pass thought partner, so you can focus on the content that really matters.

• Create an 'always-on version of you'

Custom GPTs and AI assistants can handle repetitive queries or guide your team. This lets you 'outsource yourself' safely, freeing up time for strategic thinking while keeping control.

• Use AI as a coach

AI can help with tough conversations - drafting performance reviews, framing sensitive feedback, or guiding team discussions. Leaders reported it reduces stress while maintaining clarity and empathy.

• Rapid learning and research

AI distills complex topics quickly, from regulatory updates to market research, allowing leaders to have informed conversations with stakeholders without wading through hundreds of pages of documents.

• Continuous improvement through AI feedback loops

Some leaders are using AI to rate their own work or team outputs, creating a feedback loop that drives improvement. Tools like Granola can even listen to calls and provide instant feedback on presentation style or articulation, giving teams actionable insights immediately.

Actionable tip: Start small: use AI to draft your next one-pager or meeting notes, then gradually expand to coaching and feedback loops.

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Embedding AI into Team Culture

Integrating AI works best when technology is paired with the right mindset, behaviours, and a culture of trust. Here’s what leaders highlighted:

• Lead by example

Teams adopt AI faster when senior leaders use it and show the real-world benefits.

• Mandates vs. experimentation

Top-down AI initiatives often deliver faster and more consistent adoption, but allowing teams to experiment freely can spark creativity. A mix of both approaches often works best.

• Blurring traditional roles

AI can accelerate output across Product Manager, Design, and Engineering roles. Adoption succeeds best when team members feel safe experimenting without conflict.

• Incentivising knowledge sharing

Structured sharing rituals, hackathons, and friendly competitions encourage collaboration. For example, awarding a prize for the prompt or process that saves the most time helps share best practices across the team.

• Supporting distributed teams

Custom GPTs and AI assistants provide “always-on” support across time zones, reducing dependency on real-time leader availability.

Actionable tip: Schedule short weekly demos where team members share the AI applications that worked for them.

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Integrating AI into Product Strategy

AI can reshape strategy, but clarity and alignment are critical. Leaders highlighted:

• Balance hype and reality

Avoid FOMO-driven decisions. Focus on where AI enhances your product strategy without losing sight of core principles and user outcomes.

• Strategic flexibility

AI allows teams to iterate more frequently in fast-changing markets. Leaders emphasised combining a long-term vision with tactical adjustments based on AI insights.

• Stay true vs. expand

AI can improve your existing value proposition or open entirely new opportunities. Expanding ideal customer profiles (ICPs) is possible with AI, but alignment with business objectives is crucial.

• Bottom-up experimentation vs. top-down conviction

Successful AI adoption blends grassroots experimentation with executive support. Teams explore freely, but leaders guide priorities and risk appetite.

• Measure outcomes, not just outputs

AI accelerates output, but output alone doesn’t guarantee impact. Focus on meaningful outcomes and ensure AI strengthens collaboration rather than amplifying weak teamwork.

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Practical AI Applications for Product Teams

• Data migration and complex wrangling: Reduce time and improve accuracy.

• Sales enablement: SDRs can create hyper-personalised outreach in a fraction of the time. AI agents can pull insights from LinkedIn and Crunchbase, improving efficiency.

• Onboarding: New Engineers or Product Managers can use AI to help navigate legacy systems faster.

• Feedback consolidation: Summarise multi-source performance feedback quickly.

• Rapid prototyping and hackathons: Short sprints with AI let teams explore ideas without disrupting core roadmaps.

Actionable tip: Identify repetitive tasks in your team and test AI solutions to save time and focus on higher-value work.

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Final Thoughts

AI is transforming product leadership and team productivity, but success depends on thoughtful integration. Focus on practical wins, building trust, and embedding AI in culture that suits your organisation’s needs, rather than chasing hype.

For senior product leaders, AI is proving to be a huge opportunity to enhance leadership, improve team performance, and unlock strategic opportunities, but only if it’s applied thoughtfully and intentionally.