In tech product management marketing, there are three phases of your “story” and execution: strategy, planning, and doing (“execution”). I think a lot of people mix up these phases, talk too much about strategy, don’t do enough planning, often poorly communicate the plans to staff, and are not “throw it all at the wall” enough with doing. I’ve worked in this area for, I don’t know, 20 years. Here’s my latest organized brain-dump from watching people from afar and close-up at many places.
"...but there are also disadvantages"
This episode: AI is coming for your software job, or at least for the parts of it you actually enjoyed. Meanwhile, businesses are still stuck in pilot purgatory with generative AI, IT leaders remain unconvinced of AI’s ROI, and Java is apparently coming for Python’s AI crown. The economy may be changing not because of interest rates or labor shortages, but because everyone is drinking more water and eating fewer snacks.
Stuck in the pilot phase: Enterprises grapple with generative AI ROI - “More than 90% of leaders expressed concern about generative AI pilots proceeding without addressing problems uncovered by previous initiatives, according to the Informatica report. Nearly 3 in 5 respondents admitted to facing pressure to move projects along faster."
IT decision makers unconvinced of returns from AI investment - “Nearly half of respondents have yet to adopt AI at all, with 36 percent indicating they plan to start using it within the next 12 months, while a further 13 percent are still at the stage of considering or evaluating it but have no plans yet."
Reflecting on the ROI of marketing efforts I’ve done recently - “Reflecting on the ROI of marketing efforts I’ve done recently: Print isn’t that useful unless it’s with a writer with a voice (e.g., a substack). Audio and video really make an impact. You want to be inside someone’s EarPods. Speaking at trade shows is helpful in expanding your network”
70s Sci-Fi Art - Good newsletter, lots of great styles.
After 30 years of code, Java remains an enterprise cornerstone | CIO Dive - ”Nearly 7 in 10 respondents reported more than half of their organization’s applications run on Java. Roughly half are now leveraging the programming language to build AI applications.”
2025 Is the Last Year of Python Dominance in AI: Java Comin’ - Asked if he believed Java could overtake Python for leadership in AI development, Arnal Dayaratna, an analyst at IDC, told The New Stack: “Yes, definitely, this could happen, especially since Java is unparalleled for the development of enterprise-grade, mission critical applications at scale."
Three Observations, Sam Altman - ”The cost to use a given level of AI falls about 10x every 12 months, and lower prices lead to much more use.”
You Didn’t Notice MP3 Is Now Free - The MP3 format, once a staple for digital audio, is now free due to expired licensing. However, its significance has diminished with the rise of streaming services and faster internet speeds, making file sizes less of a concern. While this change is notable for developers, the general population is largely unaffected by the shift away from MP3.