1-2-1: Treat your AI setup like a product

2 Jun 2026 — 1 min read

Most leaders I work with have a folder of clever prompts. What they don't have is a team of agents they're shipping.

You add another one each week. You're still doing the work.

1 Principle

The leaders who get value from AI treat it like a product they're shipping, not a tool they're using.

A folder of prompts is a collection. A product has a backlog, a roadmap, user tests, and regressions. The PM disciplines that make software ship reliably are the same ones that make an AI setup compound week after week instead of needing a rebuild every quarter. The prompts are fine. What's missing is the discipline holding them together. Every new prompt adds maintenance and eats trust.

2 Things Top of Mind

#1 The moment my AI setup started compounding

I caught myself reaching for the same PM instincts I use with software. A backlog for what to add next. A roadmap for how the system gets more capable over the quarter. User tests on real work, not "does this output sound smart". Regression tests when I add a new agent so the existing ones still do their job. The people around me who skip this discipline keep rebuilding from scratch. Mine compounds.

This week: Pick one workflow you've been using AI for. Write its PRD: what's the job, what success looks like, what failure looks like, what the next version needs to add. One workflow, one page.

#2 The folder of prompts

You've got a folder. There are thirty prompts in it now. A few are genuinely useful. Some are versions of versions. The newer ones don't know about the older ones. Every few months you "start fresh", consolidate, rename, and start the cycle again. The cost shows up the day someone asks you to show them how you use AI. You open the folder and realise you can't explain the order, the dependencies, or which version is current.

This week: Pick the three prompts you use most. Write what each one assumes you've already done with the others. If they don't connect, you don't have a system. You have a folder.

1 Question

If you wrote the PRD for your AI setup today, what would version one look like?

1-2-1

Liam Darmody

I’m a leadership coach and product advisor. I work with senior product and engineering leaders during periods of transition and growth, helping them regain clarity, align teams, and perform sustainably under pressure.

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