From PM to Builder: How I Started Shipping My Own Products
Author
Navas
Published
January 12, 2026
Category
Career
The transition from managing products to building them myself. What changed, what I learned, and why the PM-who-builds archetype is more achievable than ever.
The backstory
I work as a Digital Product Manager at Thomson Reuters Foundation. It's a proper PM role - discovery, prioritisation, stakeholder alignment, working with engineering and UX to ship improvements. I've progressed from Junior Digital Product Coordinator to my current position over two years.
But I also build things myself now. Full platforms for clients. Tools for personal use. Side projects that scratch my own itches. That combination - PM by day, builder by night - felt like a contradiction at first. Now it feels like an advantage.
The gap that used to exist
When I graduated with a BSc in Creative Computing, I could read code, debug issues, and architect solutions. But sitting down to write hundreds of lines of clean, production-ready code from scratch? That wasn't where I thrived.
I was better at the what and why than the how. I could envision products, understand user needs, prioritise features - but turning those visions into working software required skills I didn't have at a production level.
The gap between vision and execution was demoralising. I'd have ideas and no way to build them without depending on others.
What changed
AI tools. Simple as that.
In 2023, I used ChatGPT to patch gaps in my coding knowledge - copy-paste debugging, syntax help, understanding error messages. It worked well enough to ship my university dissertation project.
By 2024, the workflow became more structured. AI for boilerplate, component scaffolding, understanding unfamiliar codebases.
In 2025 and 2026, agentic tools arrived. Claude Code can read my entire project, understand context, write code, run tests, execute commands, and deploy. It's pair programming with something that's read more documentation than I ever will.
The gap between vision and execution closed. Not because I became a better coder - because the tools became better amplifiers.
What stays the same
Here's what AI hasn't replaced: the PM skills.
Understanding what to build. Figuring out what problems actually need solving. Knowing which features matter and which are distractions. Making product decisions that balance competing priorities.
AI can't talk to clients and understand their real needs. It can't prioritise features based on business context. It can't build relationships and trust.
The thinking is still mine. The execution got amplified.
What I build now
Client work through NMO Digital. Athletic AbhyAn - complete platform with CMS and brand redesign. N2N Autos - automotive dealership site. Ssanjha Space - participatory arts platform with newsletter system.
Personal projects. A job tracker that replaced my messy spreadsheet. A football league manager for my 5-a-side group. My portfolio rebuild with custom CMS.
Products in development. Sramax - AI-powered CV optimisation. Career guidance tools. Things I'm building for myself that might become products for others.
The PM advantage
Being a PM who builds isn't a disadvantage - it's a different kind of advantage.
I scope projects realistically because I know what building actually involves. I communicate technical decisions to non-technical clients because I speak both languages. I prioritise ruthlessly because I know the cost of feature creep firsthand.
The day job makes me better at client work. The client work makes me better at the day job. They reinforce each other.
For other PMs considering this path
You don't need to become a full-time engineer. You need to close the gap enough to ship.
Start with AI tools - Claude Code, Cursor, whatever works for you. Build something small for yourself first. A tool that solves a real problem you have.
Then build for someone else. A friend, a family member, someone who won't mind if it takes longer than expected.
Then charge for it.
The PM-who-builds archetype is more achievable than ever. AI didn't replace the need for product thinking - it made product thinking more valuable by removing the execution bottleneck.
That's the opportunity. The vision matters more than ever. And now you can actually execute on it.