Product Management in 2026: Are We Ready? Live NYC Event Recording

The December 2025 Products That Count live event, held in New York and hosted by Arise Head of Product Aman Khan, featured Noom CPO Aaron Severs speaking on AI-driven product management in 2026. The gathering marked the launch of the Products That Count monthly speaker series, designed to bring together the digital product-building community for insightful in-person discussions. The discussion reflected on the hype and experimentation of AI agents throughout 2025. Attendees were encouraged to participate collaboratively, adding their perspectives to the evolving landscape of AI in product management.

Join us for new conversations with leading product executives every week. Roll through the highlights of this week’s event below, then head on over to our Events page to see which product leaders will be joining us next week.

Show Notes:

1. 2025 was widely expected to be the year of AI agents, but practical deployment challenges persist.
2. Many companies face significant hurdles getting AI agents into production environments.
3. AI hallucinations—erroneous or fabricated outputs—remain a persistent issue into 2026.
4. There is skepticism about whether hallucinations will be solved soon.
5. Product leaders must focus sharply on understanding and delivering on the needs of their teams, companies, and customers.
6. Aman Khan, Head of Product at Arise, hosted the event and emphasized actionable AI deployment.
7. Arise helps digital native companies ship AI agents and products using evals and AI observability.
8. Notable firms using Arise include Spotify, Instacart, DoorDash, and Duolingo.
9. The event marked the kickoff of Products That Count’s in-person monthly speaker series in major cities.
10. Reintroducing in-person sessions is vital for networking and idea exchange among product builders.
11. Over 500,000 product professionals are part of the Products That Count community.
12. Attendees included leaders from top companies: Warner Brothers, HBO Max, Barclays, EY, JP Morgan Chase, and Oracle.
13. The event’s theme focused on readiness for product management in 2026 in the AI era.
14. A collaborative, discussion-driven format was designed to maximize learning and participation.
15. AI’s role in product management continues to shift from hype-driven experimentation to tangible impact.
16. The transition from AI pilot projects in 2025 to scalable, production-ready solutions is a core concern for 2026.
17. The forum provided an opportunity to address the evolving playbook of product managers in an AI-first world.
18. The community aspect remains central, with encouragement to connect and learn from peers.
19. Action items from the session included technical tasks (like document comparison using AI models) and open invitations for further technical discussion.
20. The future of product management is being shaped right now by those willing to confront and solve AI’s toughest deployment challenges.