Minimum Viable AI: Redefining How We Build Products with Dan Huss
Description
In this episode of ODSC’s AiX Podcast, Sheamus McGovern sits down with Dan Huss, the Founder & CEO of Gravity AI, to unpack how AI is changing product management. The conversation explores how AI is reshaping product management, from evaluating AI’s true value, avoiding AI washing, and differentiating between AI as a feature versus AI as a core product, to Dan’s concept of the Minimum Viable Experiment (MVE) and Minimum Viable AI (MVAI ) as an alternative to MVP. They also dive into the evolving skill sets product managers need in the AI era, cross-functional collaboration with data science teams, and responsible AI implementation.
Key Topics Covered:
- MVAI (Minimum Viable AI) and the future of product management.
- Why MVP gets bloated in the enterprise and why MVE (Minimum Viable Experiment) prioritizes learning over shipping.
- A product lens for AI decisions using desirability, feasibility, viability — including consequences when models are wrong.
- AI-as-a-feature vs. AI-as-a-product — what changes in data strategy and UI (e.g., conversational interfaces).
- Where AI impacts the PM workflow: user stories, specs, research synthesis, and “vibe coding” for rapid prototypes.
- Collaboration playbook for PMs ↔ Data Science / AI Engineering on hallucinations, accuracy, monitoring, and risk.
- Practical MLOps: catalogs, deployment, observability, and compliance (e.g., EU AI Act implications).
- Avoiding AI washing: How to find low‑risk, high‑learning internal use cases and build toward differentiation
Memorable Outtakes:
- “Ditch MVP. Let’s call it an MVE—Minimum Viable Experiment. Put the emphasis on learning, not building a ‘version one’ that gets bloated.”
- “Product management is fundamentally a communications role. Anywhere there’s a language task, AI will become a collaborator.”
References & Resources:Guest & Company
- Dan Huss (Founder & CEO, Gravity AI) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielhuss/
- Gravity AI: https://www.gravity-ai.com/
Concepts, Tools & Mentions from the Episode
- Minimum Viable Product: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product
- The Lean Startup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lean_Startup
- AI Snake Oil (book/site): https://www.aisnakeoil.com
- Podcast Episode - The AI Superintelligence Myth with Arvind Narayanan: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/ai-x-podcast/episodes/The-AI-Superintelligence-Myth-with-Arvind-Narayanan-e32it16
- EU AI Act (overview resource): https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/
- Notion: https://www.notion.so/
- Figma: https://www.figma.com/
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