Akshar Patel (AP)
Product Manager, Airtable
Product Manager at Airtable
Enterprise AI features
No coding background
Started using AI coding tools in early 2025
40+ pull requests
27 features and fixes shipped to production
Prototypes → production code
Built and shipped using plain English
PM or product role
A founder building something
Tried an AI coding tool
ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor
Built a working prototype
and showed it to someone
1. Open claude.ai
2. Create a free account
3. That’s it.
Free tier is all you need. Takes two minutes.
By the end of this session, everyone will have built something.
In the next 30 minutes, you’ll build a working prototype
using plain English. No coding experience needed.
I want to build a type of tool that helps who do what.
Need inspiration? Pick one and make it yours.
“Make me a dashboard.”
For who? What data? What actions?
AI will guess everything wrong.
“Build me a landing page. Make it look good.”
“Good” means nothing without context.
You’ll get something generic.
“Build me a personal dashboard
that helps a founder track daily priorities.
Task list, pomodoro timer, notes section.
Dark mode, clean design.”
What it is, who it’s for, what problem it solves.
Features listed. Design direction given.
Say what it should do, not how to build it.
Ask for one thing at a time. Not five.
Don’t accept it. React to it. Talk to it like a colleague, not a search engine.
“Make it better”
AI doesn’t know what “better” means to you
“Fix the layout”
Which part? What’s wrong with it?
“The buttons are too small to tap”
Describe what you see and why it’s a problem
“The header feels too heavy for the page”
Talk about the experience, not the code
Don’t like it? Say “undo that” or “go back to the previous version.” Nothing is permanent.
Pick the one thing that bothers you most. Fix that first.
Layout
“Make it two columns”
Change how things are arranged
Feature
“Add a dark mode toggle”
Add something that wasn’t there
Bug
“The timer doesn’t reset”
Describe the behavior, not the fix
This is the loop.
Describe → Test → React → Repeat.
Talk to it like a colleague.
Not a search engine. Not a command line.
“Make it more polished”
“Add smooth animations”
“Add a feature where...”
“Make it work on mobile”
See a red error? Copy it.
Paste it back with no comment.
That’s the fix 80% of the time.
Gone back and forth 3 times?
Start a new conversation.
Pro tip: Keep a planning doc
outside the chat. Paste it into
fresh sessions for clean context.
Raise your hand if you get stuck.
Something that would make someone else want to use this.
“Add a share button”
“Add confetti on completion”
“Save my past sessions”
Power move: give it a reference.
“Style it like Stripe’s pricing page”
beats describing every detail.
Everyone in this room just built working software.
Most of you don't write code for a living.
Turn to your neighbor. Show them what you built.
If you want to share with the room, raise your hand.
Know the problem. Not the solution. What are you trying to make easier?
Find a reference. “Make it work like X” beats describing from scratch every time.
Describe what you want in plain English.
Test it. Click around. Break it.
React with short, specific feedback.
Repeat until it’s good enough to show someone.
Your PM skills are your edge.
Describing problems clearly, giving specific feedback,
knowing what good looks like — that’s the whole job.
Context rots. Your notes don’t. Keep a planning doc outside the chat.
Prototyping & MVPs — idea to testable in hours
Internal tools — dashboards, calculators, admin panels
Stakeholder communication — show, don’t tell
Learning — great way to understand tech
Security-critical code — real vulnerabilities
Complex backend — databases, permissions, auth
Production at scale — performance, edge cases
Anything you can’t verify — don’t ship it
Prototype freely. Ship carefully.
Your domain expertise is the input. AI is the builder.
First output is a draft. Push it until it's right.
Napkin sketch or production code. You decide how far to go.
This Week
Iterate on what you built today
This Month
Prototype a real idea at work
This Quarter
Show it to stakeholders
Akshar Patel (AP)
Product Manager, Airtable
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/apatel13
Thank you for building with me today.