Unlocking the Potential: GenAI's Impact on Product Innovation and Growth

About this report

Data collection: August 26 - September 1, 2023

Respondents: 66 product management professionals

Innovation has always been the driving force behind successful product development. Enter GenAI, an emerging power that can reshape how products are brought to life. How can product managers harness the power of GenAI to improve the user experience and business outcomes of their offerings and drive product growth?

One minute insights:

  • Brain connections iconThe majority of organizations are exploring GenAI integration in their products
  • Person cht iconThere is an increased need for AI product managers (PMs), and organizations plan on training existing PMs to support their GenAI product integrations
  • Alarm sound noise light iconMixed concerns surrounding GenAI implementation include ethical, security and operational challenges
  • Manager person iconProduct managers expect GenAI to play a pivotal role in staying ahead in the market

GenAI is being adopted across organizations for a variety of purposes, from enhancing user experiences to streamlining internal processes

Chart: Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?

Only 9% of respondents say their organization has no plans of integrating GenAI in their products.

Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?

n = 66

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Among respondents who are experimenting with, or have integrated, GenAI (n = 33), 39% primarily use it for predictive analytics in their product strategies.

Broadly, what is the main use case for GenAI integration in your organization’s product strategy?

Half circle chart: Broadly, what is the main use case for GenAI integration in your organization’s product strategy?

n = 33

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question shown only to respondents who answered “Experimented in isolated products”, “Integrated into some products”, and “Fully integrated across all products” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

*Other includes: “Chat“ and “Chatbots for rapid prototyping”

More specifically, the most commonly identified types of predictive analytics made available by GenAI include personalized recommendations (48%) and user behavior predictions (39%).

What types of predictive analytics does your GenAI integration make available? Select all that apply.

Bar chart: What types of predictive analytics does your GenAI integration make available? Select all that apply

Unsure 6% | Other 6%

n = 33

Question shown only to respondents who answered “Experimented in isolated products”, “Integrated into some products”, and “Fully integrated across all products” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

*Other includes: “Predictive Maintenance“ and “Commodity price forecasting”

Personalized recommendations (58%) are also the most commonly identified user personalization made available by GenAI integration, followed by virtual assistants (55%) and advanced search and filtering (52%).

What types of user personalization does your GenAI integration make available for your products? Select all that apply.

Bar chart: What types of user personalization does your GenAI integration make available for your products?

Customized news feed 21% | We don’t use GenAI for user personalization 6% | Unsure 0% | Other 0%

n = 33

Question shown only to respondents who answered “Experimented in isolated products”, “Integrated into some products”, and “Fully integrated across all products” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

Customer support through AI-driven chatbots (70%) is the most common process automation GenAI integration makes available for most respondents.

What process automations does your GenAI integration make available? Select all that apply.

Bar chart: What process automations does your GenAI integration make available?

Anomaly/fraud detection 18% | We don’t use GenAI for process automation 3% | Unsure 0% | Other 0%

n = 33

Question shown only to respondents who answered “Experimented in isolated products”, “Integrated into some products”, and “Fully integrated across all products” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

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Question shown only to respondents who answered “Experimented in isolated products”, “Integrated into some products”, and “Fully integrated across all products” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

GenAI will help us in generating customer centric content faster and cheaper. We see providing support and training videos targeting many more local languages without [a] bottleneck of specific language speaking people.

C-suite, professional services industry, <1,000 employees

GenAI integrations have the potential to enhance our product by providing specialized features, expanding capabilities, and offering more tailored experiences to users. This could lead to increased user engagement, improved problem-solving, and broader applicability across various domains.

Manager, software industry, <1,000 employees

Demand for AI product managers is growing

Among respondents who are exploring GenAI and have plans to integrate (n=60), 65% say their organization plans to train existing product managers to better support GenAI product integrations.

Does your organization plan to train existing product managers to better support GenAI product integrations?

Pie chart: Does your organization plan to train existing product managers to better support GenAI product integrations?

n = 60

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question shown to all respondents except those who answered “Not currently exploring GenAI, and we have no plans to” and “Conducted initial research, no plans to integrate” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

Furthermore, half are considering hiring dedicated AI product managers to better support their GenAI product integrations (50%). 18% already have hired AI product managers.

Does your organization plan to hire AI product managers to better support GenAI product integrations?

Donut chart: Does your organization plan to hire AI product managers to better support GenAI product integrations?

n = 60

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question shown to all respondents except those who answered “Not currently exploring GenAI, and we have no plans to” and “Conducted initial research, no plans to integrate” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

Bubble chart: What concerns do you have about implementing GenAI in your product?

Respondents have a diverse set of concerns regarding GenAI implementation. Privacy and security of user data (53%) is one of the most commonly selected concerns, followed by algorithm bias and fairness (42%) and data quality and availability (38%).

What concerns do you have about implementing GenAI in your product? Select top three (3).

Lack of AI expertise on team 23% | Ethical and regulatory compliance 22% | User acceptance / adoption of AI features 20% | Difficulty measuring ROI 18% | Unforseen legal and liability issues 13% | Misalignment with user expectations 13% | Unpredictable performance in real-world scenarios 12% | No anticipated challenges or concerns 10% | Loss of human touch in user interactions 8% | Overdependence on AI 5% | Resistance to change from stakeholders 5% | Unsure 2% | Other 0%

n = 60

Question shown to all respondents except those who answered “Not currently exploring GenAI, and we have no plans to” and “Conducted initial research, no plans to integrate” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

Expecting improved competitive advantage, PMs are aligned top down on AI product integration

Almost a third (32%) of surveyed product managers anticipate that implementing GenAI into their product strategy will most significantly influence their competitive advantage.

Which business outcome do you expect to be most significantly influenced by implementing GenAI into your organization’s product strategy?

Pie chart: Which business outcome do you expect to be most significantly influenced by implementing GenAI into your organization’s product strategy?

Time-to-market for new features 0% | Quality control 0% | Other 0% | We don’t expect any business outcomes to improve 0%

n = 60

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question shown to all respondents except those who answered “Not currently exploring GenAI, and we have no plans to” and “Conducted initial research, no plans to integrate” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

Respondents feel their organization is aligned top-down on the use of GenAI in product integration (78%), business outcomes (67%), and user experience (65%). Over half (51%) are unsure or don’t feel their organization is aligned on budget.

Do you feel your organization is aligned top-down on the use of GenAI in your product(s) when it comes to each of the following?

Chart: Do you feel your organization is aligned top-down on the use of GenAI in your product(s) when it comes to each of the following?

n = 60

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question shown to all respondents except those who answered “Not currently exploring GenAI, and we have no plans to” and “Conducted initial research, no plans to integrate” to “Which of the following best describes your organization's integration of GenAI in their products?”

42% report their product team plans to leverage a hybrid approach, using both existing GenAI models as well as developing their own.

Does your product team plan to use off-the-shelf GenAI models or plan to refine/develop their own?

Half circle chart: Does your product team plan to use off-the-shelf GenAI models or plan to refine/develop their own?

n = 60

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question: Do you have any final thoughts to share on how GenAI can improve product offerings?

GenAI is a remarkable tool, but still only a tool. It won't solve everything. But can be useful in certain circumstances. Figuring that out is my challenge.

VP, telecommunications industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

While there are concerns of GenAI, there are several benefits of integrating such a technology into product offerings - Faster Time to market, Create innovative user experiences, Automation, Available to customer 24/7 through chatbot, etc.

Director, software industry, <1,000 employees
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Respondent Breakdown

Map: Respondent breakdown