What Modern Project Managers Can Learn (and Steal) from Product Management

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is a leading expert in project management and strategy implementation, recognized by Thinkers50 with the prestigious award “Ideas into Practice.” He is the creator of concepts like The Project Economy and the Project Manifesto. He is author of Lead Successful Projects (2019, Penguin) The Project Revolution (2019, LID) and The Focused Organization (2012 Gower). He has been teaching project management for more than a decade to senior executives at Duke CE, Skolkovo, Solvay Business School, and Vlerick. Antonio has held executive PMO positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, BNP Paribas, and GlaxoSmithKline. Former Chairman of the Project Management Institute, he is the co-founder of the Strategy Implementation Institute and the global movement Brightline.

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Topics: Agile, Product Management

Not too long ago, modern project managers were at the center of how organizations delivered change. Big initiatives? Get a project manager. Complex implementation? Bring in a PMO. Want something done on time and on budget? You know who to call.

But lately, there’s been a shift. A different role is gaining traction—one that’s suddenly in every leadership meeting, shaping roadmaps, influencing budgets, and leading cross-functional teams: the product manager.

In tech, sure—but increasingly in banking, energy, retail, and even government.

It’s understandable if some modern project managers feel like they’ve been quietly sidelined. But here’s the thing: Product managers haven’t replaced modern project managers. They’ve reframed how work is organized and how value is delivered.

And that’s where the opportunity lies.

This article isn’t about rivalry. It’s about learning. It’s a call for modern project managers to evolve, borrow, and yes—steal—the best parts of product management to stay future-ready and expand their influence.

What Is Product Management, Really?
Let’s remove the jargon. Product management is the practice of guiding a product—from concept to customer impact—throughout its lifecycle. It’s about identifying user problems, shaping solutions,…

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