3 Key Takeaways from the 2025 PLA Summit and The New Must-Have Product Operations Skill

As leaders, we often wish we could peer into the future to anticipate what’s ahead in our fields and industries. While I’m no fortune teller, I do come bearing gifts following last week’s Product Operations Summit where a few key themes came through loud and clear.

This was Tuckpoint’s second year attending and sponsoring the Product Ops Summit, organized by the Product Led Alliance. It was energizing to witness again firsthand the conversations shaping the future of Product Operations. I’m truly impressed with how our industry continues to evolve. That said, there were some insights that surprised and delighted me, and there were some that raised my eyebrows (if not rang a few distant alarm bells.)

Here, I’ve boiled down the three most important takeaways, the hot new Product Operations skill you’ll want on your radar as you build your talent bench, and a few actions leaders can take right now to get on the train before it leaves the station.

1. The Human Element: Our North Star

If there was one resounding message that echoed through the halls of the summit, it was this: despite our increasing reliance on sophisticated technology, the human element is irreplaceable. 

We live in a time when AI promises to automate everything in product from backlog grooming to release planning. It's refreshing to see our community emphasize the irreplaceable value of human judgment, empathy, and creativity, which is something I’ve been on my soapbox about for a while now (and yes, the validation does feel good).

Al Berjanskii's session on AI in Product Operations was particularly illuminating. While the potential of AI tools for the Product Ops professional is undeniable, Berjanskii emphasized the importance of strategic implementation over wholesale adoption. The key takeaway? AI should augment human decision-making, not replace it.

What struck me most was how the most successful organizations aren't just paying lip service to human-centered operations: they're fundamentally restructuring their processes around it. This isn't about rejecting automation—it's about understanding where human insight creates the most value and designing our operations accordingly.

2. Financial Acumen is The New Must-Have Skill

Perhaps the most significant takeaway I absorbed regarding the evolution in our field is the growing emphasis on business and financial acumen. Gone are the days when Product Operations professionals could focus solely on practice consistency, delivery metrics, and velocity. Today's leaders need to speak the language of business impact, ROI, and strategic value creation as well.

This shift reflects a broader maturation of our discipline. Product Operations isn't just about keeping the trains running on time anymore—it's about ensuring that those trains are heading toward the most valuable destinations for our businesses.

3. A Concerning(?) Trend: The Pendulum Swing 

Throughout the summit, I observed a subtle but noticeable drift back toward traditional project management paradigms. 

Ali Motto's deep dive into planning cadences offered practical insights into modern planning approaches, which I loved to see. However, I also noticed an interesting tension between the desire for agility in planning and forecasting and an increasing appetite for more structured planning processes—a theme that emerged repeatedly throughout the summit.

The renewed emphasis on comprehensive requirements documentation, resource modeling, and growing separation between IT and business teams feels like it could be a step backward from the product-led principles many of us have worked so hard to establish.

This trend isn't necessarily surprising—in times of economic uncertainty, organizations often retreat to familiar territories. (How many times have I written about the gravitational pull of the old ways of working on teams and organizations?) As someone who has witnessed the transformative power of true product-led operations, I worry about what this regression might mean for innovation and value delivery.

Looking Forward: Practical Advice for Leaders 

Despite my concerns, I left the summit feeling optimistic (on the verge of ecstatic!) about the future of Product Operations. The community's commitment to human-centered approaches combined with growing business sophistication suggests we're maturing in the right ways.

So, where do we go from here? The path ahead requires a delicate balance. We must acknowledge the legitimate need for structure and governance while preventing these mechanisms from becoming barriers to agility and innovation.

For my fellow leaders, here are a few things you can do to navigate what’s ahead:

1. Regularly assess whether your processes serve your teams or whether your teams serve your processes

2. Keep IT and business teams tightly integrated, even when organizational pressures push for separation

3. Embrace documentation that enables rather than constrains

4. Stay vigilant for signs of unnecessary bureaucracy creeping back into your operations

As we move forward, let's remember that true product-led transformation isn't about choosing between structure and agility: It's about finding the right balance for our organizations while keeping humans at the center of what we do.

The Future Remains Bright

For those of us leading these transformations, our challenge is clear: we must maintain the courage to resist the comfortable pull of old paradigms while embracing the evolution our discipline needs. After all, if we're not continuously pushing boundaries and questioning assumptions, are we really leading transformation at all?

The conversations at the 2025 summit remind us that we're at a crucial juncture in the evolution of product operations. The choices we make now will shape not just our organizations but the future of our industry. Let's choose wisely.