The announcement came directly from Omar Sanseviero, a developer relations engineer at Google DeepMind, who confirmed the figures on X over the weekend. 

In addition to the downloads, more than 70,000 custom variations of Gemma have already been built on Hugging Face, a widely used platform among developers.

Gemma, which launched in February 2024, is part of Google’s initiative to compete with other open model providers, especially Meta’s Llama series. 

The latest versions of Gemma can work with both images and text, a capability known as being “multimodal.” They also support more than 100 languages and include versions optimised for tasks like drug research.

However, when placed side-by-side with Meta’s Llama, Gemma’s traction seems to be on a moderate level. Llama passed 1.2 billion downloads in April 2025, nearly ten times what Gemma has achieved. In a space where momentum matters, such a gap is hard to ignore.

But volume alone doesn’t determine usefulness. What’s more important is what developers can actually do with these models. And that’s where the trouble starts. 

Both Gemma and Llama have been flagged by developers for having restrictive and unclear licensing. These are not the standard open licenses many in the community are used to. Some have argued that the vague terms make it risky to deploy the models in commercial settings.

That has led to hesitation, particularly among startups and businesses that can’t afford legal ambiguity. I’ve spoken with teams who say they’ve skipped over both Gemma and Llama entirely for this reason. The concern isn’t about capability, but clarity.

So while Google celebrates 150 million downloads, there are issues about what those downloads actually represent. Are developers using the models in real products? Or are they just experimenting, unsure whether they can actually go to market with them?

But after five years working as a Product Manager (PM), I’ve seen how fast the industry moves, and 2025 is set to bring even bigger changes.

Product managers who stay ahead of these changes will build better products and grow their careers. Those who don’t may struggle to keep up.

Here are some key trends to watch and how to adapt.

1.   AI, AI, AI! 

AI has rapidly gained popularity and continues to grow in influence. For product managers, understanding and using AI tools is now becoming essential, as AI is transforming how we work. Understanding what we can achieve with AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), is essential.

Some of the top use cases include content generation, customer support automation (e.g. chatbots), code assistance, research summarization, personalized learning, virtual assistants, data analysis, creative brainstorming, language translation, and much more.

Also, as a PM, AI can be introduced into your product to improve user experience and in turn business outcomes.

You might be asking yourself, what can I do to stay in touch with this AI trend? You can start by learning how AI tools can improve your daily workflow, do your own research on the numerous AI tools available and their capabilities.

Experiment with AI-driven analytics, user feedback tools, etc. Be very curious and get your hands on as many AI resources as possible.

I recently got an AI micro-certification from Product School. If you’re interested, You can take the course here. Recently as well, I hosted a podcast episode on building AI products, transitioning into AI, and using AI in product development. For Apple podcasts you can listen here, and for Spotify, you can listen here. These are great resources to give you a good head start.

Other resources; deeplearning.ai, Hugging face, Alpha signal, The Neuron.

2. The definition of “Product Manager” is changing

A few years ago, we had a fairly standard definition of who a PM was and what a PM does. The role of a PM was more standardized, with a clear set of expectations and responsibilities. But as the years have come by, the world has changed and so has the role.

Today, we’re seeing an increased number of specialized PM roles. Some PMs focus on emerging technologies like AI, while others work deeply within data, design, growth, engineering, or operations.

Beyond skill-based specializations, some PMs are industry specialized, such as Fintech PMs, Healthtech PMs, or E-commerce PMs. No two PM roles look the same anymore.

Companies are increasingly hiring specialized PMs to tackle specific challenges, prioritizing specific skill sets and industry experience over conventional backgrounds.

Instead of looking for a PM generalist who can adapt to anything, they create detailed role descriptions with targeted skill requirements, tailoring the role to solve specific business challenges.

As a result, we’re seeing more unconventional hires stepping into PM positions because they have the exact expertise needed to tackle a company’s unique problems. This highlights an important reality for generalist PMs, specialization is becoming more valuable.

If you’re currently a generalist PM, it’s worth considering how you can narrow your focus, whether by choosing a particular industry or developing expertise in areas like AI, data, growth, design, or technical product management.

The demand for specialized skills is growing, and upskilling in these areas will make you more competitive in the job market.

3. PMs are now taking ownership beyond product development

Product managers used to mainly focus on the tech team (engineers, designers, QAs, etc) to build and launch products.

But these days (and even in recent years), the role has grown much bigger. PMs are now more involved in the business side of things, leading and guiding business verticals.

The role now extends into profit and loss (P&L) considerations, and the overall commercial success of a product. They work closely with marketing, sales, finance, and customer support to make sure the product succeeds, not just in how it’s built but also in how it’s launched, sold, and maintained.

PMs are now more involved with how the product will reach customers and profitability. They work closely with marketing and sales teams to ensure a strong product positioning and a seamless launch.

It’s no longer just about building a great product, it’s about making sure it reaches the right customers, at the right time, with the right messaging.

Ensuring people understand what the product does and why they should use it. This requires PMs to understand their competition, pricing strategies, and customer acquisition channels.

I am well aware that in some companies PMs are now responsible (fully or partially) for pricing and revenue strategies, just as much as the product features.

They work with finance and business teams to figure out pricing options and ideas on how that business unit can make profit.

As these companies look for sustainable growth, PMs are also expected to collaborate with customer success teams to improve retention and customer lifetime value.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, product management is constantly changing and so are we as PMs. If there’s one piece of advice I’d give, it’s to stay curious and adaptable. We should be open to continuous learning and new ways of thinking. The more we adapt, learn, and refine our skills, the more valuable we become.

There’s always something new to explore, and that’s what makes the role so dynamic.

And if you’re looking for the best place to put your product management skills to practice, join me at Moniepoint.