Ravi Mehta: Data-driven prototyping with AI | Product in Practice
What we got into
Ravi has built product organisations at Facebook, TripAdvisor, and Tinder, and co-created Reforge's AI Strategy Program. We talked about how product work is splitting into human-speed and AI-speed activities, what the shift from craft to taste really means for how PMs grow, and a technique he calls data-driven prototyping — starting from the data schema rather than the design or spec.
What I took away
The craft vs. taste reframe hit me hard. When anyone can generate working UI with a prompt, what you choose to build — and for whom — becomes the real differentiator. For PMs, that means doubling down on customer understanding and strategy rather than output velocity. The data-driven prototyping demo was also a genuine eye-opener: starting from the schema creates more realistic prototypes and makes iteration meaningfully faster.
Where this connects
I've started applying this prototyping approach to features I'm scoping. A write-up on how that's going in practice is coming.