The consistent advice from product leaders is that you should spend as much time as you can learning – building skills, deepening your understanding of product management and learning about new developments in ways to approach your craft.
We're drowning in incredible product management content. weekly deep-dives. Product leader John Cutler shares daily insights. New AI product management courses launch monthly. It's all brilliant stuff. But consuming resources has become a substitute for actually improving.
So before we share our curated list of the best resources for 2026, let's talk about how to actually get value from them.
If you've spent a few months in product management, you've already got a good grasp on the basics, a lot of product managers, you're past the basics. At this stage, nobody's really talking to you about how to cut through the noise and focus on what actually matters for your growth.
How to use this list:
Here's our suggestion for getting real value from the resources below:
- Start with diagnosis. Before you buy a book or subscribe to a newsletter, ask yourself: What's the one thing that, if I improved it, would improve my impact? Is it stakeholder management? Understanding AI? Running better discovery? Pick ONE growth area for the next quarter.
- Go deep. Find 2-3 resources that specifically address your chosen area. Read/listen/engage with them properly. Take notes. Try the exercises. Discuss them with your team. Going deep on three resources will teach you more than skimming thirty.
- Implement before consuming more. After each resource, implement something before moving to the next. Read a chapter about discovery? Run a customer interview this week. Listened to a podcast about AI? Prototype one AI feature. The learning happens in the doing.
- Set consumption limits. Pick a maximum number of newsletters (we'd suggest 3-4), podcasts (2-3), and books per quarter (1-2 if you're actually finishing them). Your time is your most valuable resource.
- Learn from your own work. The best insights often come from reflecting on your own launches, decisions, and mistakes. After you ship a feature, run a proper retrospective. When a stakeholder meeting goes badly, analyse why. The resources below are brilliant, but they're supplements.
We've curated this list specifically for PMs navigating the year that lies ahead. Every resource here has been carefully selected because it addresses real challenges you're facing, including the AI transformation, stakeholder complexity, team dynamics, and strategic thinking.
What's actually changed in product management
2026 marks a genuine inflection point. AI has gone from "interesting technology" to "fundamental capability" faster than most of us expected. According to recent research, 76% of product leaders are increasing their AI investment this year, and McKinsey estimates that AI agents could handle tasks representing around 44% of work hours.
The good news? The resource landscape has evolved to meet you where you are. We're seeing much better content that bridges the gap between "AI is magic" and "here's how to actually evaluate and ship AI features." The books, podcasts, and newsletters below reflect this maturity.
However, the fundamentals remain unchanged. Stakeholder management, discovery practices, roadmapping, and strategic thinking remain crucial. When your competitors might be moving twice as fast because they've embraced AI tools effectively, you can't afford to be merely competent at the basics anymore.
Let's talk books
We need to acknowledge something: product management books have a shelf-life problem. The fundamentals remain true (yes, you should talk to customers), but the context shifts rapidly. A book written in 2022 might miss the AI transformation entirely. A book from 2024 might have caught the AI wave but missed how quickly it would become table stakes.
So as you consider the books below, think about your immediate context. Are you actively building AI features right now? Then the AI-focused books are relevant. Are you six months away from that? Maybe focus on shoring up your stakeholder management or team leadership first, and come back to the AI books when you actually need them.
The classic PM canon still matters – if you haven't read Marty Cagan's trilogy (Inspired, Transformed, Empowered), Melissa Perri's Escaping the Build Trap, Eric Ries' The Lean Startup, or Teresa Torres' Continuous Discovery Habits, those provide the foundational language and frameworks you'll encounter everywhere. But if you have read them, here's where to go next based on your actual challenges.
If you're building AI products (or about to be)...
The AI Product Playbook by Dr. Marily Nika and Diego Granados
This book, written by actual AI Product Leads at Google, bridges the gap between theory and "oh god, how do I actually ship this?" It offers actionable frameworks, ethical guidelines (crucial, not optional), and interactive exercises. If you read one AI book this year, make it this one.
Reimagined: Building Products with Generative AI by Shyvee Shi, Caitlin Cai and Yiwen Rong
This is the playbook for weaving Gen AI into your products. Packed with over 150 real-world examples and 30+ case studies, it shows you where AI makes sense in your product lifecycle and where it's just expensive theatre. The 20+ frameworks alone are worth the price.
If you're stepping into leadership or building teams...
The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo
Julie's moved on from Facebook, but her wisdom on leadership hasn't aged a day. This book nails the transition from IC to manager, covering everything from setting direction to building trust. If you're getting the "leadership track" tap on the shoulder, read this first.
Product Operations: How successful organisations build better products at scale by Melissa Perri and Denisse Tilles
Product ops is no longer a nice-to-have function; it's how scaling companies stay sane. The updated audiobook includes AI case studies that show how ops is evolving in 2026. Essential if you're building or joining a product ops function.
If you're fighting the feature factory...
Driving Value with Sprint Goals by Maarten Dalmijn
Most teams get goals completely wrong. They pick all the work that "needs to be done" and then desperately try to slap together a goal afterward. Maarten reveals how to leverage goals for actual outcomes instead of just checking boxes. Read this, implement it, watch your team transform.
Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
Still a classic for a reason. If your team measures success by outputs rather than outcomes, if you're shipping features nobody asked for, if you're stuck in the "but the CEO wants it" cycle – this book is your way out.
Sense and Respond by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
While other books tell you what to do, this one rewires how you think. It builds the fundamental discovery mindset that separates great PMs from order-takers. Less tactical, more transformational. Ideal read for when you're drowning in stakeholders and roadmap chaos
Product Roadmaps Relaunched by C. Todd Lombardo
Roadmaps are key communication tools in product management. This book teaches you to build roadmaps that embrace uncertainty, align stakeholders, and actually help instead of creating impossible expectations. The techniques for articulating the "why" behind initiatives are gold.
The Product Momentum Gap by Andrea Saez and Dave Martin
Fresh thinking on why teams lose momentum and sales stagnate. It addresses the alignment problem: when your strategy and customer value drift apart, everything grinds to a halt. Practical guidance for keeping the momentum going.
If you're thinking really big picture...
The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil
Not strictly a PM book, but if you're building products for the next decade, you need to understand where technology is heading. Kurzweil discusses nanobots, radical life extension, and brain-cloud interfaces.
Building Rocketships: Product Management for High-Growth Companies by Oji and Ezinne Udezue
A modern playbook for product leaders and PMs in high-growth environments. Drawing on experience at organisations like Microsoft, Twitter, Calendly, and Atlassian, this book offers practical frameworks and tools to build, scale, and lead product-led organisations effectively — especially relevant in an AI-enabled, fast-paced era.
Podcasts
Podcasts are like turning in to ongoing conversations. Pick 1-2 that you actually enjoy listening to – where the host's style resonates with you and the topics consistently address your current challenges. Then actually listen to them regularly. If a podcast hasn't taught you something actionable in the last three episodes, it's not for you right now, and that's fine.
With that preamble out of the way, here are the podcasts that we feel are the most valuable for PMs today.
(Shameless plug...) Mind the Product's own podcast has been coming out on a weekly basis since 2019 and is hosted by product pros Randy Silver and Lily Smith. It features conversations with product people all around the world, and focuses on insights of how to improve your product practice. The podcast continues to deliver outstanding episodes featuring the latest thinking from product leaders worldwide.
This remains the gold standard for product management podcasts. Lenny Rachitsky's show has become one of the go-to sources for deep, insightful conversations with the biggest names in tech. Always timely and tuned into emerging trends, this podcast often leads the conversation around what's next in product development.
Hosted by Melissa Perri – renowned author of Escaping the Build Trap – this podcast blends high-level insight with practical, on-the-ground advice. The regular 'Dear Melissa' segment, where she answers audience questions, provides especially valuable guidance for navigating the messy realities of product work. Released weekly, it's an ideal companion for PMs looking to level up their practice.
Jason Knight brings a refreshingly honest and conversational style, with a healthy dose of skepticism about conventional product wisdom. This podcast takes a different approach by focusing on unconventional ideas and hot takes that challenge the status quo. Guests span product designers, product marketing managers, founders, and builders, sparking lively conversations that leave listeners rethinking their assumptions.
Hosted by Petra Wille and Teresa Torres, All Things Product is a thoughtful, practitioner-led podcast that digs into what it really takes to build strong product organisations. The conversations often sit at the intersection of product discovery, leadership, and organisational design — making it especially valuable for senior PMs, product leaders, and anyone shaping product culture at scale. With Teresa’s deep expertise in continuous discovery and Petra’s focus on empowered product teams, this podcast consistently delivers clear, actionable thinking rather than hype or theory.
Newsletters and blogs
Newsletters are the easiest thing to subscribe to and the hardest thing to actually get value from. They arrive daily or weekly, you skim them, think "interesting," maybe bookmark an article you'll never read, and then hit archive.
The newsletter problem is particularly relevant for PMs because everyone is writing for you. Your goal should be 3-5 newsletters maximum.
Here are the newsletters that consistently deliver value for mid-level PMs navigating 2026:
The Beautiful Mess by John Cutler
John Cutler continues to be one of product management's most original minds. His regular Substack newsletter is always full of creative thinking, sound argument and good advice, drawing on his experience at companies like Amplitude and Toast.
Product Growth by Aakash Gupta
This Substack dives into succeeding as a product manager, with insights on growth strategies, securing PM roles, and becoming a better leader. With over 172,000 subscribers, it offers content for people at different career levels.
Prioritised by Mind the Product
Our weekly newsletter that curates the best articles, podcasts, and videos on product management, design, and development. Essential for staying on top of the most important developments in the field.
Product Talk by Teresa Torres
Focused on continuous discovery and understanding customer needs, this newsletter provides actionable insights on building successful products through ongoing research and experimentation.
Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson's analysis of the business, strategy, and impact of technology remains essential reading. Weekly articles are free and offer deep dives into how tech companies operate and compete.
A daily newsletter that curates product management news, delivering straight-to-the-point commentary so you can quickly scan and find relevant insights without information overload.
Product management events
Let’s talk about events, because they’re one of the most misunderstood learning tools in product management.
The real value of events is connection, sense-making, and translation, hearing how other product people are interpreting the same challenges you’re facing, and working out what that means for your context.
Used well, events can sharpen your inspiration, and improve your approach to product thinking.
Choose events based on who you’ll be learning with, not how many talks are on the agenda. Look at the speakers, the audience, and the kinds of conversations that happen around the sessions.
Five product management events worth serious consideration in 2026
Here are a small number of product events that consistently attract thoughtful practitioners and meaningful conversations.
Product at Heart is an independently curated, full-day conference in Hamburg designed for curious product people who want to think more clearly about their work. Rather than chasing scale or hype, it focuses on strong curation and practical product judgement, with talks centred on turning big shifts — like AI, metrics, and strategy — into decisions teams can actually act on.
One of Europe’s strongest product conferences for strategic thinking. La Product Conf consistently attracts senior practitioners who are willing to talk honestly about trade-offs, failure, and long-term decision-making. Particularly valuable if you’re moving beyond tactics and into leadership territory.
Pendomonium is Pendo’s annual product festival, with a clear emphasis on how product teams operate as AI becomes a core capability rather than a side experiment. The programming blends product leadership, technology, and adoption, focusing on questions like what work changes when AI becomes a teammate, how teams measure impact, and how organisations scale new capabilities responsibly. It’s less about pure product craft and more about navigating what’s next — making it particularly relevant if you’re thinking about leverage, measurement, and the future shape of product work.
UXDX exists to tackle one of the most persistent problems in product organisations: the disconnect between discovery and delivery. It brings together product, design, and engineering to focus on how teams actually work — from collaboration and flow to systems that allow teams to consistently ship value. This isn’t about collecting more discovery techniques or delivery rituals; it’s about making the whole system function better.
Business of Software focuses on the intersection of product, strategy, and business decision-making, with talks that explore pricing, growth, leadership, and long-term competitive advantage.
The real work begins now
We've just given you dozens of resources. All of these could make you better at your job....or it could just make you busier.
The difference comes down to what you do next.
If you take the diagnosis-first approach we talked about at the start of this article, everything changes. What's the one thing that you find really challenging at work right now? Pick the 2-3 resources that specifically address that. Engage with them properly. Implement something. Then come back for more.
The resources are here when you need them. Mind the Product will keep curating them, updating them, and making sure you have access to the best thinking in product management. But remember that Marty Cagan, Melissa Perri, Teresa Torres, and Lenny Rachitsky all became great product leaders by shipping products and learning from mistakes.
The resources helped them refine their thinking and avoid some pitfalls. But the real learning happened in the work.
Now go build something!
What are we missing?
This list reflects our view of what resources are most valuable for PMs in 2026, but we'd love to hear from you! What resources have genuinely changed how you work? Not just interesting content, but things that actually made you better at your job?
Let us know by emailing editor@mindtheproduct.com. We're always looking to improve these recommendations and discover resources we might have missed.
