This blog is the first in a series on using AI in practical ways, not aspirational fluff.
When I teach my AI for Product Owner workshop, I stress to my students that it is not a ‘change your whole business’ workshop. It’s about learning practical vocabulary, hands-on learning, and immediate tools to use.
Which, much of the time, is exactly what you need.
Not game changers.
Just a better tool to do what you already know how to do.
One of the more useful prompts I teach is a Pains and Gains Analysis.
The prompt was created out of a simple need…
To quickly understand my students’ challenges in class.
I run the Pains and Gains exercise at the start of each class.
It’s a simple, quick-to-learn technique that teaches my students a way to understand their customers.
It also served as a post-class analysis for me to inform future class development.
In real-time, though, it was of minimal use to me.
With the prompt, I’ve flipped the script entirely.
As soon as the exercise is over, I use the “Copy as image” command in Miro and put the exercise and the prompt into my ChatGPT.
In seconds, I have a summarized output and key takeaways that I can use to tailor the class to those students.
It shifts from a future-looking exercise to a tool for immediate feedback.
It doesn’t replace my own analysis. It gives me something to work with in real time — an early compass signal as I decipher the rest of the map.
📌 Copy & Paste Prompt
Here’s the full Pains & Gains Analysis prompt, formatted for easy copy-paste:
Goal: I want to understand the overall product management context of this group to better support their needs in both Scrum practices and product ownership skills development. Your Role: You are a seasoned Scrum and Product Management expert analyzing a visual team persona artifact to identify what the group values, what frustrates them, and what product work they are truly doing. Your goal is to synthesize key patterns that may inform coaching, skill development, or product ownership approach. Context: The input is an image representing a CSPO cohort's collective Jobs (product responsibilities), Pains (challenges in product work), and Gains (what makes product work enjoyable or meaningful). Assume this is from a workshop with practicing product people or those transitioning into product roles — typically project managers, software developers, business analysts, and others looking to become effective Product Owners. Task: Analyze the image and: - Identify the top product Jobs this group is responsible for - Extract the recurring or most impactful Pains they experience in product management, stakeholder collaboration, or Scrum environments - Highlight the core Gains that energize or fulfill them in product work Format: Please respond with a short synthesis using four sections: - Jobs (product ownership responsibilities, stakeholder management, backlog work, etc.) - Pains (challenges with prioritization, unclear requirements, difficult stakeholders, team dynamics, etc.) - Gains (successful product outcomes, user impact, team collaboration wins, solving complex problems, etc.) - Key Takeaway (2-3 sentences summarizing the most important insights about this group's product context and what they need most to succeed as Product Owners) Each section should include 3–5 bullet points summarizing the key themes. Avoid just repeating sticky notes — synthesize and group where appropriate, focusing on patterns that reveal this group's product ownership journey and development needs.
Note: This goal is tailored for examining Product Owner needs. You will want to adjust the goal to the customer you are analyzing.
📌 Example Output- Key Takeaways:
“This group values ownership, collaboration, and solving meaningful customer problems, yet they are heavily weighed down by scope creep, political decision-making, and prioritization struggles. They need support in strengthening stakeholder management, applying clear prioritization frameworks, and reducing process friction so they can focus on outcomes instead of politics and bureaucracy. Their growth as Product Owners will hinge on learning to balance competing demands with clarity, confidence, and customer focus.”
This is how AI can make simple and powerful changes in how you work as a product owner.
Accelerate analysis.
Give you signals to follow.
Move you from reactive action to real-time action.
Even if you haven’t used AI much yet, where could it save you the most time — or give you an earlier signal?
#AIForProductOwners #ProductOwnership #AgileLeadership #GorillaMoments #PracticalAI