Productside Webinar

Agentic AI – Product Management Friend or Foe? 

How Agentic AI is redefining both your product and your role.

Date:

02/12/2025

Time EST:

1:00 pm
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Agentic AI isn’t just another technological innovation—it’s reshaping entire industries. As companies like Microsoft and Salesforce move toward agent-driven ecosystems, SaaS (as we know it) is evolving. The role of the product manager is also transforming, from strategy author to system curator, with the need to balance trust and control in AI-driven systems. 

Join Dean Peters and Roger Snyder for a deep dive into the trends shaping 2025 and beyond. Learn how to adapt, lead, and thrive in this new era. 

What you’ll gain: 

  • Insights into how Agentic AI is disrupting PM roles and SaaS business models. 
  • Practical strategies for aligning autonomous systems with user and business needs. 
  • How to evolve your approach to guide AI-driven ecosystems effectively. 
  • Techniques to stay relevant in a rapidly changing landscape. 

Welcome and Housekeeping

Roger Snyder | 00:00–02:30
Welcome everyone to Productside’s webinar, “Agentic AI – Product Management Friend or Foe?” I’m Roger Snyder and I’ll be your host. We are recording; you’ll get the replay and resources. Use the Q&A panel for questions—we’ll save time at the end.

Dean Peters | 02:30–03:30
Thanks, Roger. I’m Dean Peters, product advisor at Productside. Today we’ll explore what agentic AI actually is, what it isn’t, and how PMs can use it without losing the plot.

About Productside and Overview

Roger Snyder | 03:30–05:00
For anyone new: Productside helps product teams connect strategy to outcomes. Today’s agenda: definitions, foundations, impacts on PM work, examples, and guardrails—plus polls and Q&A.

Poll #1 – Where Are You on the Agentic AI Spectrum?

Roger Snyder | 05:00–06:00
Quick pulse: New to agentic AI, experimenting, or shipping with it? Vote now.

Dean Peters | 06:00–06:30
I’m seeing a lot of “experimenting.” Perfect—this talk is aimed at you.

Warm-Up Activity – Describe Agentic AI in Five Words

Roger Snyder | 06:30–07:30
In chat, describe agentic AI in five words. Curious to see your instincts.

Dean Peters | 07:30–08:30
Favorites so far: “Autonomous, useful, risky, fast, emergent.” That captures the tension nicely.

What Is Agentic AI?

Dean Peters | 08:30–13:00
Agentic AI refers to systems that take goals and autonomously plan and execute multi-step tasks—invoking tools, calling APIs, and coordinating sub-agents. Think “goal in, outcomes out,” with humans assigning purpose and guardrails.

Foundations of Agentic AI

Dean Peters | 13:00–18:00
Three pillars:
1) **Reasoning** – planning and reflection loops.
2) **Tools** – actions like search, code, or internal systems.
3) **Memory** – short/long-term context to improve over time.
Without all three, you don’t have agency—you have automation.

Poll #2 – Which Products Are Agentic?

Roger Snyder | 18:00–19:00
Which of these do you consider agentic: scheduling assistants, autonomous research tools, code copilots, or analytics bots?

Dean Peters | 19:00–19:30
Trick answer—some are, some aren’t. Agency depends on autonomy and goal-seeking, not brand names.

Autonomy, Accountability, and Agency

Dean Peters | 19:30–24:00
Autonomy without accountability is chaos. The PM’s role is setting **goals, constraints, and evaluation signals**. We own outcomes—even when agents take actions.

How Agentic AI Impacts PM Work

Dean Peters | 24:00–29:00
Discovery, research, competitive analysis, and synthesis get faster. Roadmapping and prioritization get richer inputs. But the bar for **storytelling, ethics, and governance** goes up.

Poll #3 – Which PM Tasks Could Be Automated?

Roger Snyder | 29:00–30:00
Which tasks should an agent help with first: research, reporting, grooming, or experiments?

Dean Peters | 30:00–30:30
Research and reporting usually win—instant leverage.

Agentic AI in Market Research and Story Generation

Dean Peters | 30:30–35:00
Agents can scrape public data, cluster insights, draft narratives, and propose hypotheses. Keep humans in the loop to check bias and business fit.

Evolving the Product Operating Model

Dean Peters | 35:00–39:30
Shift from artifact-creation to **decision orchestration**. PM + Ops + Data define guardrails; agents execute playbooks; leaders review signals, not slides.

Impact on the SaaS and Business Model

Dean Peters | 39:30–43:30
Agentic workflows change pricing (usage-based), packaging (task bundles), and value proof (jobs-done). Make costs observable and outcomes auditable.

The Agentic Ecosystem and Governance

Dean Peters | 43:30–47:30
RACI for agents: who sets goals, approves tools, reviews logs, and handles incidents? Add **kill-switches, audit trails, and policy tests**.

Experimenting with Agentic Tools

Dean Peters | 47:30–50:30
Start with low-risk domains. Measure value with before/after time-to-insight and error rates. Celebrate learning, not just lift.

Live Demo – LangFlow and Blueprint Examples

Dean Peters | 50:30–55:00
Quick walkthrough of a research agent in LangFlow: goals → tools → memory → evaluation. Then a “blueprint bot” scaffolding product charters.

Key Takeaways for Product Managers

Dean Peters | 55:00–58:00
Own the goals and guardrails. Treat agents like interns that never sleep: helpful, fast, and supervised. Document decisions and measure outcomes.

Q&A and Closing Remarks

Roger Snyder | 58:00–01:02:00
Q1: “What skills should PMs learn first?”—Prompting, evaluation design, and governance.
Q2: “How do we avoid hallucinations?”—Constrain tools, add retrieval, and require evidence in outputs.

Dean Peters | 01:02:00–01:03:00
Thanks for joining—keep experimenting, and keep humans in the loop.

Webinar Panelists

Dean Peters

Dean Peters, a visionary product leader and Agile mentor, blends AI expertise with storytelling to turn complex tech into clear, actionable product strategy.

Roger Snyder

Roger Snyder, Principal Consultant at Productside, blends 25+ years of tech and product leadership to help teams build smarter, market-driven products.

Webinar Q&A

Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems with autonomy, accountability, and agency—able to plan, act, and adapt with minimal human input. In this webinar, Dean Peters explains how this evolution shifts the role of product managers from feature builders to system curators. Instead of defining every step, PMs now guide intelligent agents that execute tasks, learn context, and deliver outcomes. The result? Faster decision cycles, greater scalability, and a redefined product strategy model
Agentic AI is transforming SaaS (Software as a Service) into “Agent-as-a-Service” ecosystems. Instead of paying per seat or feature, customers will pay based on outcomes and usage—measured by what an AI agent achieves. As Dean Peters notes, this marks a shift from static applications to autonomous, adaptive systems that continuously optimize workflows, learn from user behavior, and execute without constant human oversight
To thrive in the Agentic AI era, product managers must evolve from roadmap owners to AI orchestrators and outcome designers. This means mastering AI literacy, ethical governance, and systems thinking, along with traditional PM strengths like discovery and alignment. As Ryan Cantwell emphasized, PMs who learn to collaborate with autonomous agents—balancing trust and control—will remain indispensable strategic leaders
The challenge isn’t just building AI—it’s building trustable autonomy. Product managers must design with transparency, accountability, and ethical guardrails. As Peters explains, Agentic AI works best under constitutional governance—a model where AI operates within agreed principles instead of rigid rules. This creates context-aware, explainable AI systems that users and organizations can trust
Agentic AI is both a wake-up call and a growth opportunity. For PMs focused on tactical work—writing user stories or managing backlogs—AI will automate much of that. But for PMs ready to lead strategy, orchestrate ecosystems, and deliver measurable outcomes, Agentic AI becomes an amplifier of impact. As Dean Peters summed up: “Evolve with Agentic AI—or risk getting evaporated.”