Ravi Mehta: Data-Driven Prototyping with AI

Ravi Mehta is a senior product executive with experience leading product organisations at TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Tinder. He's the co-creator of Reforge's AI Strategy Program and currently works as a product strategy adviser and investor.

We discuss:Why some companies are vulnerable to AI disruption whilst others have years to adaptThe three cohorts in every organisation: evangelists, interested learners, and scepticsHow AI changes team collaborationWhy AI generates the averageThe shift from craft to tasteData-driven prototypingWhich PM skills are changing and which remain essential

Key takeaways

AI generates the average - both its strength and limitation. Large language models produce "good enough" results quickly, but strong products are outliers. Use AI's speed to iterate towards something better.

Product work is splitting into human-speed and AI-speed activities. Understanding customers, strategy, and adoption happens at human speed. Documentation, prototypes, and design happens at AI speed. Focus on customer discovery, product sense, and strategy.

The emphasis is shifting from craft to taste. AI is making craft accessible. When anyone can generate designs or prototypes, taste becomes the main differentiator. Determining what to build becomes 90% of success, up from 50%.

Data-driven prototyping unlocks more testing. Start with the data schema, generate mock data, then ask AI to create an interface.

Three cohorts exist: evangelists, interested learners, and sceptics. Evangelists experiment daily. Interested learners need access and education. Sceptics need to understand that AI is transforming work.

Where to find Ravi Mehta:Website: https://www.ravi-mehta.com/Substack: Ravi on ProductLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimehta/

Where to find Axel SooriahNewsletter: https://linktr.ee/axelsooriahLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axelsooriah/

What we cover(00:00) Introduction to Ravi Mehta(01:00) Why Reforge created the AI Strategy Program(03:00) The four parts of AI strategy: disruption risk, market, product, and execution(04:00) Insights from running Reforge's inaugural AI Strategy program(06:00) Three ways to raise AI fluency across product teams(09:00) The most powerful move PMs are making with AI(11:00) Why AI is also "average intelligence" and what that means(13:00) Skills moving at human speed vs AI speed(15:00) The shift from craft to taste in creative work(18:00) Which PM competencies are changing and which remain essential(21:00) Can AI actually think? The nuanced answer(23:00) How AI is transforming product discovery(26:00) Demo: Introduction to data-driven prototyping(28:00) Spec-driven vs design-driven prototyping(30:00) Building a trip planning feature the traditional way(35:00) Generating structured data with Claude and MCP servers(39:00) Creating prototypes from data schemas(42:00) Iterating on features with separated data layers(45:00) Switching data sets to test different scenarios(49:00) Recommended resources for product managers(50:00) Developing product judgement through mindful observation

ReferencedReforge: https://www.reforge.com

Magic Patterns: https://www.magicpatterns.com

Claude MCP: https://modelcontextprotocol.io

Smithery: https://smithery.ai

v0: https://v0.app

Lovable: https://lovable.dev

Bolt: https://bolt.new

GitLab: https://gitlab.com

Miro: https://miro.com

Descript: https://www.descript.com

Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com

Chegg: https://www.chegg.com

Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com

Ethan Mollick: https://www.oneusefulthing.org

Peter Yang: https://creatoreconomy.so/

BooksThe Creative Act: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60965426-the-creative-actThe Namesake: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33917.The_Namesake

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