"AI-powered" is dead. Here's what actually matters in product marketing

I just wrapped an episode that was supposed to be 30 minutes… it went over an hour.Why? Because Sachin Jha kept dropping insights that were too good to cut short.Sachin is a Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Safe Security, one of the top 100 product marketing influencers, and someone who’s been deep in developer marketing, AI products, and cybersecurity for years.Here’s what we unpacked:On AI in Product Marketing:* Why “AI-powered” is becoming as meaningless as “cloud-based” was 10 years ago* The difference between using AI tools vs. marketing AI products* How to actually differentiate AI products (hint: lead with the problem, not the tech)On Developer Marketing:* Why developers can “smell marketing from 200 feet away”* The biggest mistake marketers make when talking to technical audiences* How to separate education from selling (and why it matters)* Real example: How Sachin cracked messaging for Isovalent by keeping sales out of open-source Slack channelsOn Technical PMM Survival:* You don’t need to code, but you need to be “dangerous enough”* Why Sachin got Kubernetes certified as a PMM (and what it taught him)* The skills that AI can’t replace: empathy, judgment, strategy, conflict managementOn Breaking Into Tech Roles in 2025:* Why easy-applying on LinkedIn won’t cut it anymore* How to use AI tools (Cursor, Lovable, Base44) to build prototypes and stand out* The rise of GTM engineering and why execution + strategy matters more than ever* Why domain expertise beats being a generalistAI Tools Sachin Actually Uses: ChatGPT (for polite pushbacks and coaching), NotebookLM (mind maps + voice summaries), Genspark.ai (one-pagers from videos), Napkin.ai (workflow diagrams), Clay, Notion AI, Gamma, and more.My favorite quote from the episode: “Think of AI as your assistant that never sleeps. Your job is safe. Just focus on what only humans can do—strategy, empathy, judgment, and fighting between your CXO and CMO for messaging.”This episode is for anyone who:* Wants to understand what developer marketing actually means* Is trying to break into technical PMM roles* Wonders if they need to learn coding* Wants real talk about AI (not hype)* Is looking to upskill for 2025 and beyond🎧 Listen here: Have questions or thoughts? Hit reply; I read every email.Until next time, Shruti Get full access to The PMM Brief at pmmshruti.substack.com/subscribe