I was recently talking product management with my son, Marcelo.

He is what I would call a classically trained technical Product Manager in the making. He is pursuing a BS in Computer Science and Information Science, with coursework in Human-Computer Interaction, foundations in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, strong data visualization skills, and hands-on experience with modern LLM platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. He has also completed certifications in prompt engineering and AI product management.

One gap in his formal CS background is Python.

As we talked through his summer learning plans, a question came up:

Should he invest time in learning Python, or should he double down on modern low-code and no-code tools like Lovable, v0, and Replit, and go deeper into applying the latest advances in AI?

We did not treat the choice as “technical foundations or AI tools.” Marcelo already has strong foundations. The practical question was where his next increment of learning would create the most leverage.

For an aspiring Product Manager in AI-driven products, leverage comes from understanding what is possible, how systems fit together, and how to prototype quickly—then applying customer advocacy, judgment, clarity, and taste to what gets built.

For Marcelo, that points toward deepening his AI product thinking, staying fluent in modern tooling, and learning how to work with engineers rather than trying to out-engineer them. Python would still be useful; it simply is not the only route to technical credibility or practical product leverage.

At the World Economic Forum in January 2026, Demis Hassabis advised undergraduates to “get really, unbelievably proficient with these tools,” adding that this might be more valuable than a traditional internship.

I know Marcelo is committed to doing both: excelling at a summer internship while continually developing his skills with the latest generation of AI tools.

So I am curious.

If you were advising a current undergraduate with a passion for Product Management, how would you prioritize learning today?