AI can reduce manual, low-leverage work, while leaner teams may need fewer management layers. Zhang sees value in individual contributors growing into senior roles and says product leaders need to move between strategy and details, from team plans down to tickets and product builds. She recommends checking for a strategy document, shipped work, and regular updates as evidence of strategy, execution, and communication.
How the Product Manager Role is Changing in 2025
Speakers
Jiaona Zhang, CPO at Linktree, joins Peter Yang on his channel to discuss how AI, changing team structures, and personal priorities are reshaping product management and creator tools.
Zhang recommends starting with simple habits such as voice notes and clear meeting agendas, then using AI where it saves time. At Linktree, voice notes help a distributed team share decisions and next steps across time zones; transcription lets recipients read instead of listen. She says AI can help draft copy, but people still shape the final version and brand voice.
Zhang says Linktree aims to keep its company strategy to two pages, with supporting detail in an appendix. The team uses visual flows in Figma or FigJam as a source of truth because long documents did not create a shared understanding. A lightweight scorecard can show success measures, progress, blockers, and asks.
Zhang encourages PMs to treat themselves as users: learn what motivates them, consider financial needs and the value of titles, and revisit their definition of success as circumstances change. She says there are different paths, including deep individual-contributor work, and advises people to notice when management or other tasks drain their energy. Her Career Odyssey exercise asks people to imagine a blue-sky future and compare it with making no changes.
Zhang sees creators and small businesses as entrepreneurs who need ways to reach audiences and earn income. Linktree aims to help users establish a digital presence, experiment with options such as newsletters or courses, and connect with specialized tools when needed rather than build every feature itself. She describes Plann, cross-platform analytics, and creator commerce as ways to help users market themselves and grow.
Takeaways
- Use artifacts to check whether you are doing strategy, execution, and communication, then make time for the areas you neglect.
- Use voice notes and AI summaries to share decisions and context across busy, distributed teams.
- Keep strategy concise and put it in the format your team will use, such as visual flows and a lightweight scorecard.
- Reassess career goals against what gives you energy, including whether management fits the work you want to do.
- Help users start simply, then guide them to specialized tools as their needs grow.
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What was claimed 17
- previously atJiaona Zhang previously at Pocket Gemsled product work
“Dropbox, Pocket Gems”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- previously atJiaona Zhang previously at
Dropboxled product work“WeWork, Dropbox”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- previously atJiaona Zhang previously at
WeWorkled product work“Airbnb, WeWork”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- previously atJiaona Zhang previously at
Airbnbled product work“Jiaona led product work at Webflow, Airbnb”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- previously atJiaona Zhang previously at Webflowled product work
“Prior to Linktree, Jiaona led product work at Webflow”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- role atJiaona Zhang is Chief Product Officer at Linktree
“Jiaona Zhang, Chief Product Officer at Linktree.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureAI: Takes the place of low-leverage, tedious, manual tasks
“You do have AI to take the place of those things.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- feature
Roblox: Individual contributor PM career track that theoretically goes up to VP“at Roblox, we now have an IC PM career track that theoretically goes all the way up to VP”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- feature
Slack: Auto-transcribes voice notes“having Slack auto-transcribe it”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- usesJiaona Zhang usesSlackvoice notes for async communication
“Today, it’s leaving a voice note on Slack and having Slack auto-transcribe it”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- usesbrand-guided copywriting
“we’ve trained a GPT instance with Linktree’s tone of voice and brand guidance”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- usesJiaona Zhang uses GPT-5.6creates first drafts and tweaks copy
“GPT and all the different models out there are so good at giving you a first draft”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureLinktree: Automatic responses to Instagram messages
“we just launched the ability to automatically respond when someone messages you on Instagram”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureLinktree: Mailing list integrations
“We have mailing list integrations”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- acquired
“you recently acquired a post-scheduling tool or something”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featurePlann: Connects social platforms, plans posts in a calendar, and automatically schedules where supported
“connect all your platforms, plan your month at a glance, and have it automatically schedule wherever possible”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureLinktree: Analytics suite shows where visitors come from across platforms
“We also offer an analytics suite on Linktree to show what’s happening.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
