Ask HN: How can I as a PM break into AI/LLM consulting? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How can I as a PM break into AI/LLM consulting?

1 pointbkfh5 comments

Following the latest news on everything AI/LLMs, I think that bringing these innovations to market ie businesses will be as crucial as developing them.

My question is, however, how can a sonewhat technical PM build up the relevant knowledge to consult this technology? I’m not an engineer, hence my knowledge is mostly theoretical.

View on HN

I think as a PM you are well-positioned for this. Sure, there are still technical challenges for LLMs and other AI solutions but you don't gain value from implementing AI in your company.

Consulting with regard to a strategy around those tools is something reasonable. Not sure how many companies would pay for that but going in an understanding how the company currently operates and where AI could fit into these processes makes a lot of sense to me.

As a PM you should also have the high-level technical understanding and the business acumen to make that happen.

Yes, I think especially being on the intersection between tech and business should be ideal. My only concern is just how technical one has to be to provide real value.

Not very in my opinion. As a consultant I would focus on providing context of what the tech can do and what its limitations are and how that fits into what the company does.

Sure, you should understand the high-level working principles, but I wouldnt expect a consultant to implement something from scratch.

Given the fact that the current state of LLMs is very new, the meaty problems are mostly technical. Although there is scope for "translating tech to business," doing it at scale is challenging. Most solutions you see would fail at scale; they are good, in fact, really good, at POCs or on a small level. By definition, you need a dedicated PM or a business guy in a tech ecosystem when it has matured a bit. Right now, hackers can wear the hat of a business/PM guy, and it would be good to go.

For you, I'd suggest starting to write about "taking this tech to business." Use that as your POV to attract tech folks to your side and write more "microscope-telescope" type content. This could earn you more street cred and land you a good consulting gig.

Really good view. I think especially that it’s so early still there is lots of learnings to be made until this technology can be applied at scale.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com