Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)

AI is fundamentally transforming product development by lowering the barrier to entry for building software, effectively making the initial 10% of any project free. Success in this new landscape depends less on specific technical skills and more on individual agency—the recognition that the world is malleable and can be reshaped by anyone. While AI allows designers and product managers to prototype directly in code, the core of a successful product remains a singular, exceptionally useful feature rather than an accumulation of features. Despite the rise of AI-driven tools, the demand for specialized SaaS persists because users prioritize reliability and maintenance over the burden of building and managing their own full-stack solutions. Ultimately, the most effective product leaders focus on cultivating agency and identifying the core utility that provides genuine value at scale.