Artificial intelligence is blurring traditional corporate roles, allowing employees to take on responsibilities beyond their original areas of expertise and prompting companies to reconsider how teams are structured, Inc, reports.
A 2025 Figma survey found that nearly three-quarters of respondents cited AI adoption as a top driver of expanding job responsibilities. In product development, this shift has fueled interest in combining product managers, who focus on customer needs, market research and business strategy, with technical builders, who handle architecture, implementation and product reliability.
Although AI makes it easier for workers to perform tasks outside their specialties, combining the roles could eliminate important checks and balances that help organizations make sound decisions. Product managers and builders bring different but complementary perspectives, allowing teams to balance customer priorities with technical feasibility, costs and long-term performance.
While one person can develop expertise in both areas, individual knowledge does not necessarily replace the dialogue between specialists that helps teams evaluate ideas and identify potential problems. Eliminating that distinction to reduce staffing costs could lead to weaker decisions, technical compromises and unclear accountability, with expenses accumulating over time.
The survey also found that 53% of respondents believe deep expertise remains necessary to perform tasks effectively, even with AI assistance. While AI can help product managers create prototypes and builders analyze market data, it cannot replace the experience needed to determine whether an idea is practical, scalable or worth pursuing.
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