SE Radio 746: Marian Kamenistak on Product Management for Software Engineers

Marian Kamenistak, founder of the Engineering Leaders Community and former VP of Engineering at Mews, joins host Priyanka Raghavan to discuss product management for software engineers. As AI increasingly takes over more of the code-writing process, the role of software engineers is evolving. The episode starts with some fundamental concepts of product management before diving into practical case studies and real-world examples. The discussion looks beyond simply building a product and explores the entire product lifecycle—from understanding customer needs to measuring how the product is actually used. Marian discusses success metrics and the importance of defining them up front to make better product decisions. Through case studies, he demonstrates how engineers can develop a stronger product mindset without necessarily becoming traditional product managers. The conversation concludes by exploring the emerging idea of a "Product Builder"—a new kind of engineering role combining technical skills with product thinking and market awareness. With AI agents increasingly handling many of the tactical and repetitive tasks, future product builders might need to focus more on creativity, customer understanding, strategy, and connecting technology to business outcomes.