2025 Set a New Speed Standard for Product Teams: Jason Riggs Predicts 7 AI Shifts That Will Define 2026
The MACH-10 PM by Jason M. Riggs — the #1 Amazon bestseller in Business Leadership, now free on Kindle from October 20–24, 2025
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Jason Riggs, technology executive and author of The MACH-10 PM.
Jason Riggs outlines the seven shifts that will redefine how product teams operate, plan, and make decisions in an AI-driven 2026.
ENCINITAS, CA, UNITED STATES, December 2, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Across the technology sector, 2025 marked the year artificial intelligence became the operational backbone of modern product teams. What began as experimentation turned into a fundamental shift. Teams that integrated AI into their planning, prioritization, and execution cycles began operating with a level of speed and clarity traditional models could not match.
“2025 was the year AI stopped being a tool and became part of the operating system for product teams,” said Jason Riggs, technology executive and author of The MACH-10 PM: AI-Powered Product Management at Hypersonic Speed. “The teams that embraced it did not just move faster. They understood their priorities sooner, avoided drift, and made decisions before legacy organizations had even aligned on the problem.”
Looking ahead, Riggs believes 2026 will widen the gap between teams that adapt and teams that remain tied to outdated processes. He outlines seven shifts expected to define product leadership in the coming year.
Seven Predictions for Product Management in 2026
1. AI becomes the first draft of every product decision
The blank-page problem fades out. In 2026, high-performing teams will use AI to generate the Zero Draft of every spec, strategy doc, and user story. Early adopters already report dramatic reductions in drafting time, allowing kickoff meetings to start with real substance instead of alignment debates.
2. Multi-week planning cycles give way to continuous velocity loops
The era of the static annual roadmap is ending. AI-native teams are shifting to rolling “Velocity Loops” where priorities are rebalanced weekly based on real-time market and customer signals. Capital and engineering resources will move fluidly, not quarterly.
3. PMs spend 60 percent less time on tactical noise
Historically, Product Managers spent a large portion of their week searching for information or maintaining documentation. In 2026, AI agents will absorb the grind work: competitive monitoring, backlog grooming, research synthesis, and status prep. One PM will deliver the strategic output that used to require a team.
4. The moat shifts from speed to learning velocity
Shipping quickly is no longer a differentiator. The new advantage is how fast a company can loop from insight to decision to validated learning. The best teams will treat incorrect assumptions as fuel, not failure.
5. AI surfaces alignment issues before they slow execution
Misalignment derails more initiatives than technical challenges. New AI workflows will act as an “Alignment Radar,” flagging contradictions and missing logic before code is committed. This eliminates the rework tax that hits legacy organizations hardest.
6. PM career paths split into two distinct tracks
A sharp bifurcation is emerging.
• AI-Accelerated Strategists who operate like GMs or founders
• Execution-Only PMs who struggle to keep pace
The market will reward the first group with leadership roles and compensation. The second group will face increased automation pressure.
7. Leaders redefine what a high-performing team looks like
Velocity will no longer be confused with activity. Teams will be measured by Decision Quality, Time-to-Clarity, and Alignment Stability. AI tools will make these metrics visible for the first time, exposing which teams truly move the business and which teams simply stay busy.
“2026 will reward teams that operate with momentum and clarity,” Riggs said. “If teams use AI to accelerate judgment instead of avoiding it, they are going to outperform. The companies that win will be the ones who build cultures devoted to speed, truth-seeking, and learning.”
Riggs’ MACH-10 PM framework continues gaining traction among product leaders seeking to eliminate chaos, move faster, and build AI into the foundation of how they work.
About Jason Riggs
Jason Riggs is a technology executive and the author of The MACH-10 PM: AI-Powered Product Management at Hypersonic Speed, a modern framework for AI-accelerated product leadership. He has led product and strategy teams at companies such as GoPro, Qualcomm, and PAR Technology, where he helped drive innovation across consumer electronics, enterprise software, and AI-driven systems. Riggs advises organizations on clarity, velocity, and AI-enabled decision cycles, with a focus on helping teams operate faster and make better strategic calls. More insights and resources are available at https://mach10pm.com
His book is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FSP1Z1C4
Megan Swanland
MACH-10 PM / Perfect Wave AI Ventures
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