Atlassian's Chief Product Officer has put a name to a debate running through every product org: whether product, engineering and design roles are collapsing into one blended function. The verdict from inside Atlassian is that roles are expanding, not converging.

For practicing product managers, that distinction matters on Monday morning. A converging model would push PMs toward writing specs closer to code and absorbing design decisions. An expanding model instead widens the PM remit — more surface area across data, go-to-market and AI-enabled workflows — while the adjacent crafts stay distinct disciplines with their own accountability.

What does 'expanding, not converging' mean in practice?

Atlassian builds for software, IT and business teams at enterprise scale, and its product leadership frames the current shift as scope growth rather than role compression. The practical read for PMs:

• Expect broader ownership — spanning discovery, commercial outcomes and cross-functional dependencies — rather than deeper absorption of engineering or design tasks.
• Expect the boundaries between PM, engineering and design to stay, even as collaboration tightens around them.
• Expect hiring and leveling to reward range and adaptability, not specialty-elimination.

Where does this framework hold, and where does it break?

The expanding-roles framing fits organizations large enough to keep disciplined craft ownership — companies like Atlassian, with mature product suites and enterprise customers. It fails in small startups, where one person genuinely does wear several hats out of necessity, and convergence is a staffing constraint rather than a strategy.

The failure mode to watch: expanded scope without expanded seniority or support produces burnt-out PMs responsible for everything and empowered over nothing. Teams adopting this model should pair the wider remit with clearer decision rights.

Why this lands now

AI tooling is compressing execution work across the product stack, and the natural corporate reflex is to merge roles to capture the savings. Atlassian's product leadership is pushing back on that reflex: the crafts remain distinct, but each craft's footprint grows.

As AI takes over more of the how of building software, expect product organizations to keep hiring for broader judgment — and PMs who can operate across a wider surface area will define the next generation of the role.