The 2029 AGI Crisis: A Perfect Storm
The AGI revolution isn't coming – it's already here. The question isn't whether this transformation will happen, but whether you'll be ready to ride the wave or get swept away by it.
Picture this: It's 2027, and you're watching a colleague create a fully functional CRM system in under an hour using nothing but natural language prompts.
No coding. No development team. No months-long project timeline. Just pure AGI-powered creation that would have taken a team of 10 developers six months to build just two years earlier.
This isn't science fiction anymore – it's the reality we're rapidly approaching, and the implications for our industry are both thrilling and terrifying.
The AGI Timeline: Closer Than You Think
The consensus among AI leaders is becoming increasingly clear: AGI could arrive as early as 2027-2028. Sam Altman recently suggested that AGI could emerge during the current U.S. presidential term (2025-2029), positioning the timeline years ahead of previous predictions6.
Ray Kurzweil, whose predictions have been remarkably accurate, boldly states that AI will surpass human intelligence by 2029.
What makes this particularly significant for product managers is that AGI won't just be another tool in our toolkit – it will fundamentally reshape how we think about building and managing products.
The Great Software Democratization
The transformation will unfold in predictable waves, each more disruptive than the last. Initially, platforms like v0, Lovable, and Bolt.new will evolve from simple code generators into sophisticated AGI-powered development environments capable of creating enterprise-grade software.
These tools will enable anyone with domain expertise to build custom solutions without traditional development skills.
Wave One: Internal Tool Revolution
Companies will first turn these AGI tools inward, customizing their existing software stack to perfectly match their unique workflows. Why settle for generic project management software when you can have AGI create something tailored specifically to your team's needs?
This phase will see the emergence of hyper-customized internal tools that make current SaaS solutions look primitive by comparison.
Wave Two: The Template Economy
As patterns emerge from these custom solutions, we'll see the rise of sophisticated prompt sets and base templates for every business category imaginable.
Project management, CRM, email marketing, inventory management – entire industries will be distilled into reusable AGI prompts that can generate fully functional software in minutes.
The Great Disruption: When Giants Fall
This is where things get interesting – and scary. Even established giants like Jira, Salesforce, and HubSpot will face existential threats as customers realize they can create superior, perfectly customized alternatives using AGI tools.
Why pay thousands monthly for software that only meets 70% of your needs
when you can generate something that meets 100% of them?
The job market transformation will be swift and merciless. AGI will automate not just coding tasks, but entire roles across the tech stack.
Product managers who once coordinated between developers, designers, and stakeholders may find their orchestration skills less valuable when AGI can handle all these functions simultaneously.
The New Role Landscape
Traditional job boundaries will blur as we enter the era of "builders" – professionals who can leverage AGI to create complete solutions across disciplines.
The World Economic Forum projects 97 million new roles emerging, with a 40% increase in AI and machine learning specialist positions by 2027.
However, these new opportunities won't immediately absorb all displaced workers.
The 2029 Crisis: A Perfect Storm
Here's where the prediction becomes sobering. As thousands of newly unemployed tech workers attempt to build their own AGI-powered products, we'll likely see a massive oversupply of software solutions chasing limited demand.
This "product dump" scenario could trigger a significant market correction around 2029, coinciding with what many experts predict will be AGI's full emergence.
The irony is stark: the same technology that displaces these workers will also enable them to create competing products, flooding markets with solutions that may not address real customer needs.
This could lead to a temporary collapse in software valuations and a fundamental restructuring of the tech industry.
Preparing for the New Reality
As product managers, we need to start preparing now. The key isn't to resist this change but to position ourselves as bridges between human insight and AGI capability.
Focus on developing skills that complement AGI: strategic thinking, customer empathy, market understanding, and the ability to translate business needs into AGI-actionable requirements.
The companies that will thrive are those that embrace AGI early while maintaining strong human oversight and strategic direction. The losers will be those that either ignore the transformation or assume that AGI can replace human judgment entirely.
Your Action Plan
Start experimenting with AGI-powered development tools today. Understand their capabilities and limitations.
Begin thinking about how your current products could be reimagined in an AGI-native world. Most importantly, focus on developing uniquely human skills that will remain valuable: creativity, emotional intelligence, and strategic vision.
The AGI revolution isn't coming – it's already here. The question isn't whether this transformation will happen, but whether you'll be ready to ride the wave or get swept away by it.
The next few years will separate the adapters from the displaced.
Which will you be?
Samet Özkale, AI for Product Power
Co-founder & CEO at Mues AI