Just Prompt It (C'Est La Vie) - What happens when a Product Manager discover AI
Do we really need engineers now that AI can do everything? Now a PM can build everything? Or engineers will act as PM? Who is going to be pushed out from the comporate ladder first?
When I start working on a song, I usually start from an inspiration or an image. In this case I wanted something like the Pulp Fiction dancing scena song (You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry), it quickly evolved in something else.
As usually I had a lot of fun to see how much this PM could push it.
Before publishing it, there was the Easter break, when I come back I was not so sure about this song arrangement, but Suno v5.5 was just released and I did a cover of it (this one) and it got a fuller body.
It's a long song, I hope you don't mind.
From the album "A Brief History of System Failures – Vol. 1"
Released by Stale Branch Records.
--- Chapters
0:00 Song starts
0:32 The singer starts too
3:07 Now Look...
--- Lyrics
It was a regular standup, quarter past nine
The engineers were talking 'bout some "system design"
They said, "We can't just ship it, there's a coupling concern"
I said, "I don't know what that means, the revenue won't earn"
They kept on saying "tech debt" like it's some kind of disease
I told 'em, "If it's debt, then just pay it, if you please"
They talked scalability, I said, "That ain't my cross to bear"
C'est la vie, say the engineers, who just can't see the air.
Then one idle Tuesday, scrollin' LinkedIn on my phone
Some CEO in a turtleneck said, "No one codes alone"
He said talent's in a vending machine, just pick a row
Drop a prompt like a quarter, baby, watch the genius flow
I typed a little something and it gave me working code
A page with all the buttons and the colors that I showed
I said, "Who needs engineers, man? I'm shipping through the night"
C'est la vie, say the old-school devs, but I'm feeling alright.
Oh, I got a master plan now, baby, ain't no tellin' me "No"
I got a prompt, a dream, and a roadmap, watch this product grow
No blockers and no pushback, no "it's harder than you think"
I'm the PM with the power now, I'll ship it 'fore you blink.
The landing page was flickerin' like a jukebox in the rain
The database was screaming but I couldn't feel the pain
The API was returning things that no one ever asked
But the roadmap said we're "on track," and the metrics said we're fast
The users started writing in, said the login don't persist
I told 'em, "Clear your cookies," and I checked it off my list
The investor deck said "shipped", and that's the only thing that's true
C'est la vie, say the tickets in the queue, you never know what I'll do.
"Now look... I know some of you are gonna say, 'What about sprint planning?'
Baby, I am the sprint.
'What about the architecture?'
Architecture is for buildings, sweetheart. I'm building a movement.
You talk about 'unit tests', I talk about units sold.
You say 'code review', I say 'revenue review.'
And you know what? The board don't ask about your pull requests."
Oh, I got a master plan now, baby, ain't no tellin' me "No"
I got a prompt, a dream, and a roadmap, watch this product grow
No standups and no retros, no "we need another week"
I'm the PM with the AI now, the future's lookin' sleek.
The engineers all watched him from the Slack channel that night
They poured another coffee out and shook their heads real tight
'Cause the server caught on fire 'round a quarter after two
And the PM? He was sleeping.
C'est la vie...
what can you do?