Mike Abbott

Michael Abbott is a Stanford CS153 instructor and technology executive known for leading software, cloud infrastructure, and product engineering teams at General Motors, Apple, Twitter, Palm, Microsoft, and Kleiner Perkins. He is an HTEC advisory board member and senior advisor to GM’s CEO, and has taught or worked with Stanford Computer Science and SAIL.

AI Is Splitting Product Management Into Builders and Information Movers

In a Stanford CS153 guest lecture, Mike Abbott and Nikhyl Singhal argue that AI is changing product management by eroding the value of roles built around coordination, reporting, and internal information flow. Singhal, founder of Skip and a former product executive at Meta, Google, and Credit Karma, says companies still need product judgment, but increasingly favor hands-on builders who can understand customers, work with technical systems, and make decisions. His broader case is that the product role now depends less on title and process than on company stage, iteration speed, and the ability to build directly.

Stanford OnlineMay 7, 202617 min read