Short answer: You don’t need to be an engineer. You do need to turn ideas into something people can click on, and fast.
What’s Changing
More teams now ask PMs to build a quick working prototype in interviews using AI tools.
If you’re preparing, our concise PM interview frameworks walk you through common patterns and scorecards.
Think of it as “vibe coding”: you describe the user flow, rules, and edge cases; the AI creates a simple app you can demo.
Why This Matters
Faster validation: move from doc → demo in hours, not weeks.
Clearer teamwork: a clickable demo removes guesswork for design and engineering.
Interview edge: shows product thinking, speed, and clarity; if you’re shifting toward AI-heavy roles, skim our Become an AI PM primer to align your story with hiring signals.
Common Traps
Skipping discovery: a shiny wrong answer is still wrong—use this discovery call cheat sheet to set the problem before you build.
Over-promising: call it a prototype, not “production-ready.”
Replacing design: use it to explore; partner with designers for the real UX.
Quick Example
One PM showed me how they built a simple approval workflow in 15 minutes during a Microsoft interview. They got the offer.
What Tools Are We Talking About?
Beginner: Bolt.new, Replit, v0 by Vercel
Advanced: Lovable, Cursor
These cover simple UI, basic data, and quick states (empty, loading, error, success); for more practical picks, bookmark our Product Manager Toolbox.
The Big Picture
AI prototyping amplifies core PM skills. It doesn’t replace them.
Stay focused on the user, the problem, and the outcome. Use the prototype to show your thinking, not to hide the gaps.
If you’re new here, browse the archive for weekly remote PM roles and playbooks.
Want Roles Where These Skills Matter?
At Product Career Hub, we share human-vetted remote PM jobs ($75K–$350K) every week. No spam, no dead links.
Here’s how our job verification process works, so you know exactly what you’re applying to.
Need extra help polishing your story? See coaching options tailored for PM interviews.
The framework above works.
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