Project overview

Microsoft leadership wanted to investigate the use of Generative AI (GenAI) by product managers (PMs), a traditionally understudied user group. Previously, only software engineers had been involved in the conversations about GenAI usage at the organization. As this was the organization’s first comprehensive study on PMs and GenAI, I designed a mixed methods study, distributing a large scale, global survey (885 participants), in parallel with semi-structured interviews (15 participants) and triangulated with telemetry data.

Process and Methods

• Internally validated research instruments with user group and other productivity researchers
• Led data collection
• Collaborated across disciplines (data science, product management, software engineering and AI research)
• Qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed data across sources
• Developed Python charts to visualize quantitative and qualitative analytical findings
• Performed thematic analysis on interview and open-text survey questions
• Conducted workshops with product managers to refine findings

Deliverables

• Presented findings and their implications to leadership (corporate vice presidents, managers, AI + marketing)
• Produced a framework to depict how PMs delegate tasks to GenAI, currently being used to augment PM GenAI literacy
• Currently authoring academic papers to disseminate findings and implications of this research

⚠️ Under construction, more details to come soon