OpenAI and Ex-Shopify Product Lead Reveals How He Builds AI Products | Miqdad Jaffer

OpenAI and Ex-Shopify Product Lead Reveals How He Builds AI Products | Miqdad Jaffer

Author: Peter Yang July 28, 2024 Duration: 33:50

My guest today is Miqdad Jaffer, ex-head of AI products at Shopify. Miqdad leads enterprise products at OpenAI and was previously Head of AI Products at Shopify. He also teaches Maven’s #1 AI PM course on building AI products inside companies. Miqdad and I spoke about:

-- Why traditional product development doesn't work for AI

- How to build product principles early to manage AI's infinite edge-case problem

- The unconventional ways that Shopify "gets shit done" and ships products fast Timestamps: (00:00) Why building AI products is different (02:10) How Shopify's AI efforts got started (04:48) "Get shit done" product review process (08:13) Building AI products with customers (09:03) How to prioritize AI use cases (11:35) Setting goals for AI products (16:46) The AI tech stack explained (18:25) Protecting user data and privacy (19:49) Prompt engineering and evaluation (23:25) Is it worth training users to submit better prompts? (25:01) Managing AI hallucinations (26:55) Shopify's AI vision (28:41) Principles for building AI products (30:43) Shopify's craft and no meeting culture Where to find Miqdad: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miqdadjaffer/ AI PM course: https://maven.com/product-faculty/ai-product-management-certification Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-shopify-built-generative-ai 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!


For anyone building the future, Behind the Craft is a conversation with Peter Yang that moves beyond theory and into the tangible details of creation. This podcast lives in the messy, rewarding space where ideas become real products. Each episode is built on candid interviews with experts who have been in the trenches, dissecting the pivotal decisions, the unexpected hurdles, and the hard-won lessons that rarely make it into a polished case study. You’ll hear the unvarnished stories behind the features and companies shaping our world, focusing on the practical frameworks and mental models that effective product leaders and creators rely on daily. It’s about understanding the craft from the inside out-the strategic shifts, the team dynamics, the user insights that truly move the needle. Tune in for a direct, no-fluff dialogue designed to accelerate your own journey, providing actionable guidance you can apply immediately to level up your own work. This is where the blueprint meets the build.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Behind the Craft
Podcast Episodes
This is What Top 1% PMs Do Differently | Amit Fulay (VP Microsoft) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:18
My guest today is Amit Fulay. Amit is a product VP at Microsoft who previously spent 15 years building products like News Feed (Meta) and Google Meet (Google). In our interview, he reveals the three types of product lead…
Make 2025 Your Best Year Yet With This Ritual | Katia Verresen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:14
My guest today is Katia Verresen. Katia is one of Silicon Valley's most sought-after leadership coaches. Her clients include Fidji Simo (CEO of Instacart), Kate Rouch (CMO of OpenAI), Deb Liu (CEO of Ancestry), who all r…
How to Crack the PM Interview in 2024 | Satish Mummareddy (Meta) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:39
My guest today is Satish Mummareddy, ex-product leader at Meta. During his 6 years at Meta as an IC7 product leader, Satish interviewed 200+ PM candidates and mentored 100+ PMs. We had a great chat about how to crack the…