6 AI Tools and Software Product Managers Should Know

AI tools have rapidly taken centre stage in various industries, and the product management domain is no exception. From making precise decisions to optimising workflows, AI is reshaping how product managers operate. 

Here are 6 best-in-class AI tools for product managers:

1. Stepsize AI – Everyone on the same page, effortlessly

Stepsize AI is an advanced intelligence tool which surfaces the activity, opportunities and blockers that matter by leveraging your operational data to its fullest potential.

Product engineering teams constantly grapple with vast amounts of operational data, like Jira tickets, Slack threads, GitHub pull requests and much more. Navigating this data and extracting what matters is worse than cumbersome for humans – it’s almost impossible.

Stepsize AI elegantly solves this dilemma by transforming raw operational data into actionable insights, tailored alerts, and on-point reports, precisely when they're needed most. 

In doing so, it makes deep alignment within and across teams and layers of management effortless.

Features

• Daily team update: Configure periodic updates and intelligent alerts to synchronise your team.
• Stakeholder update: Equip collaborators with succinct and pertinent insights, either automated or generated in real-time, fostering strategic decision-making.
• Executive summary: Surface project progress, delivery risks, potential opportunities and any other items that demand attention.
• Ask, answer, act: Ask your AI any question about the details of any update, and get instant insights and clarity without taking colleagues out of their flow.

Benefits

• Achieve alignment, effortlessly: Navigate the complex web of information channels to foster alignment between business units, teams, and individuals.
• Spend less time in meetings: Shift focus from information-sharing meetings to impactful work.
• Enable visibility and foster transparency: Imitate the "water cooler effect", bolstering team unity, shared work habits, and culture.
• React swiftly, miss nothing: Ensure no opportunity or risk goes unnoticed, irrespective of the volume of data across tools.
• Reduce context switching: Maintain team efficiency by cutting down interruptions and promoting uninterrupted workflow.

Learn how Sensehawk saved 50+ hours per week by using Stepsize AI.

How it Works

The core of Stepsize AI lies in the Operational Intelligence Engine. This engine builds a comprehensive data graph by observing, aggregating, and reflecting on operational data sourced from every tool at your disposal. By engaging with the AI agent and specifying your needs, the engine probes this data graph and surfaces contextually relevant activity, insight into concealed risks, and actionable recommendations.

My view: I may be biased, but Stepsize AI is the most sophisticated AI tool in this list, and can be transformative for project teams. It can pick up the context and nuances of projects and deliver insights that extend far beyond tasks large language models (LLMs) usually complete. Where other tools simply summarise or generate, Stepsize AI contextualises, remembers and analyses.

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Learn more about Stepsize AI.

2. Motion - AI Product Lifecycle and Time-Management Platform

Motion uses AI to categorise, prioritise, and schedule product development tasks.

Motion seeks to alleviate the often overwhelming tasks of sorting, scheduling, and prioritising product development tasks. It's an AI-driven tool that assists product managers in time management, task prioritisation, and achieving deep work.

‍Best features

• AI-driven task prioritisation and schedule creation.
• Customizable meeting booking capabilities.
• AI-generated insights into each team member's product tasks.

My view: Motion is tailored to product managers seeking proactive AI solutions to aide their workflow. Its ability to address and automate busy-work makes the ROI calculation clear-cut. For those aiming to minimise manual work in product lifecycle management, Motion is a top pick.

Learn more about Motion

3. Otter - Your AI Meeting Assistant

OtterPilot transcribes, captures slides, and summarises meetings to make product discussions more efficient and actionable.

With its sophisticated generative AI engine, OtterPilot offers an excellent experience in understanding and documenting product-related meetings. This tool is handy for teams that regularly meet.

Best features

• Real-time transcription of product discussions.
• Automated capture of slides and notes during meetings.
• Generation of comprehensive post-meeting summaries.

My view: OtterPilot is indispensable for product managers who juggle multiple meetings. It ensures key product decisions and insights from meetings aren’t forgotten.

Learn more about Otter

4. Notion - Your Unified Documentation Workspace

Notion combines multiple product management aspects, such as documentation and task tracking, into a single, AI-enhanced platform.

Notion stands out for its seamless integration of product management tools, coupled with AI enhancements to assist in brainstorming and writing.

Best features

- User-friendly interface for product documentation and management.

- In-built AI writing assistance.

- Efficient integration with third-party tools.

My view: Notion's user-centric design makes it a favourite. The added layer of AI is a shallow Ai implementation which is somewhat limited, but can be convenient. It doesn’t detract from Notion’s slick, user-friendly interface that most love.

Learn more about Notion

5. ClickUp - Comprehensive AI-Enhanced Product Management Software

ClickUp offers an all-in-one product planning and management solution, now boosted with AI features.

ClickUp's approach is centred around having everything product managers (and people in many other roles) need in one place, from goal-setting to communication. Its recent AI features, like task completion assistance, make product management even more seamless.

‍Best features

• End-to-end project management.
• Boards and other diagram tools.
• AI-enhanced task completion.
• Comprehensive collaboration and communication tools.

My view: ClickUp is a powerhouse tool for product engineering teams. While its broad toolset is a boon for smaller teams, larger teams might need more specialised features. The AI additions are, like Notion, somewhat shallow but can be convenient.

Learn more about ClickUp

6. Canva - AI-Driven Graphic Design for Product Managers

Canva's AI image generator feature assists product managers in creating impactful visual presentations.

Finding the right images for product presentations can be challenging. Canva's AI-driven tool bridges this gap, allowing product managers to generate images tailored to their needs.

Best features

• Text-to-image generation.
• Real-time collaboration with teams.
• Auto-translation of designs.

My view: For product managers seeking to elevate their presentations and visual documentation, Canva's AI features are useful. However, be wary of copyright concerns, especially for public-facing materials.

Learn more about Canva

Closing Thoughts

Embracing AI tools in product management can streamline operations, drive intelligent decision-making, and promote effective collaboration. As AI continues to evolve, product managers leveraging these tools will undoubtedly gain a competitive edge. Remember to explore these tools to determine which best enhances your product management process.

We've created Stepsize AI, your ultimate AI companion for software projects. 

The inundation of operational data, like Jira tickets and Slack threads, has been a significant hurdle for product teams. But with tools like Stepsize AI, the intricate web of data becomes not a barrier but a goldmine of actionable insights.

Complement (or ditch) your daily standup with an automated recurring team sync, keep other stakeholders in the loop automatically after every sprint, or deliver a strategic executive summary to your C-suite.

We’d love to hear how you want to use Stepsize AI. Check it out here.