I feel like Product marketing is in a similar place where Product Management was 15-20 years ago. With that said, how do you see Product Marketing growing over the next 5 years?

I think the future of product marketing depends on the type of product and persona you’re selling to. But for developer tools—especially highly technical ones—I have a strong bet: PMMs will shift from marketing to the product org.

Why? The technical nature of these products demands that the people responsible for commercializing them be tightly aligned with those building them. Deep product understanding, positioning, and go-to-market execution can’t be siloed away in marketing—it has to be embedded within the product function.

Here’s my hot take: PMMs are going to become outbound PMs, bringing product marketing back to its roots. We’ll see the PM org split into two distinct groups:

1. Inbound PMs – The PMs we know today, driving product strategy, working with engineering, and shaping requirements.

2. Outbound PMs – PMMs in disguise, but sitting within product. They’ll be responsible for translating product strategy into commercialization programs, working closely with marketing and sales to ensure product adoption, differentiation, and revenue growth.

This shift won’t happen everywhere. But in industries where understanding the user’s workflow is just as important as understanding the product—like developer tools, infrastructure, and AI platforms—it makes sense. Positioning and commercialization will no longer be an afterthought; they’ll be built into the product process itself.

If you look at product marketing today, it feels like product management 15–20 years ago—somewhat undefined, varying across companies, and still finding its place. Over the next five years, I see product marketing becoming more specialized and embedded within product teams, especially for technical markets where PMMs are as much product strategists as they are marketers. Again this hot take is mainly for developer tools or highly technical product.

I think Product Marketing will shift beyond product launches and research to a craft that focuses on business and product growth strategy. Meaning, PMM will take more ownership over revenue targets, setting the strategic direction of a business line and product, and then providing the strategic plan that other cross-functional teams will execute. Many companies already do this (like Adobe) and I think others will soon follow.