80% of product professionals say AI helps them ship faster, but customers aren’t seeing value any sooner. Atlassian’s State of Product 2027 explores the gains AI is delivering and the challenges that remain, from decision-making that hasn’t kept pace to gut instinct overriding customer evidence.

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3 Things You Should Be Doing to Build Your Brand

Your brand isn't your logo, your tagline, or your LinkedIn headline. It's what people think of you when your name comes up. That is your personal brand, and in the age of AI, your personal brand is going to be more important than ever. If you want a job, or to be successful, you need to be differentiated from the hundreds of people who are contending for the same position, and the bots too. Your brand is what gets built in public, over time, by what you consistently do and where you’re seen. I have spent a lot of time on this in my career because, simply put, if you can’t market yourself properly, how can you be expected to market something else? To that end, I came up with 3 pieces of advice I would give you. Read on and find out.

1. Network
I am not talking about transactional networking. It’s not about collecting contacts at a conference and never speaking to them again. Anyone can do that. Real networking is showing up, repeatedly, in the rooms, both physical and virtual, where the people you respect spend their time. It's about asking good questions instead of pitching. It's following up when you say you will, and it's giving before you ask: an introduction, a useful article, a word of encouragement when someone launches something. I have witnessed firsthand some people in this industry who were unselfish with their contacts and assistance. That is good karma, and it comes back to you. You have to be out there and offer a hand. Be genuinely inquisitive. Be respectful and give respect where it’s needed. Be honest, be authentic, and be there often.

It can be simple, but it can be time-consuming, and you have to know that in advance. I try to stay in touch with people for no reason other than I like them. I make an introduction when they ask, or when I think it will help two people. There should be nothing in it for me. I say yes to the coffee, the call, the panel, and the community because relationships compound, and they compound fastest when nobody's keeping score. Sometimes I have to say no for sanity, but those times are few and far between.

At its core, a brand is a network of people who trust you. You can't shortcut that. You can only show up.

2. Write
Writing is how you prove what you think to other people and to yourself.

You don't need to be a "writer" to write. You need a point of view, and the discipline to put it down regularly. Writing clarifies your own thinking. When you publish, you give other people something to react to, agree with, argue with, and remember you by.
My personal rule is to write in public, on a schedule, even when it feels unfinished. A short post that actually says something beats a perfect essay that never ships, and I am never perfect. Write about what you're actually learning and doing, not what you think the algorithm wants. This compounds the earlier point about being authentic and honest. People can tell the difference, and the ones who matter will find you through the honest version. It can be scary, but don’t be scared. Putting your ideas out there can be freeing.

If you want to be known for something, say it out loud more than once, in your own words.

3. Learn POVs outside of yours
Most people skip this, and it's the one that keeps the other two honest.

It's easy to build a brand inside an echo chamber, leveraging the same industry, the same takes, and the same room nodding along. It's also a fast way to become boring, and then irrelevant. I deliberately seek out points of view outside my own. I read people I disagree with. I talk to people in different industries, different generations, different disciplines, and I actually listen instead of waiting to respond. I also try to do it live, or in person whenever I can. I ask what they're seeing that I'm missing, and that is always easier one-to-one, even on a Zoom call if you can’t meet in person.

You don't have to adopt every perspective you encounter. That wouldn’t be realistic. You should be able to articulate the other side's argument fairly, or your own argument isn't as strong as you think. Curiosity is a brand advantage. Learning new things, especially things outside your immediate needs, is super valuable. It broadens your network, sharpens your writing, and makes your thinking harder to dismiss. Fundamentally, it makes you interesting.

None of this is a hack, and none of it works overnight. Network. Write. Learn outside your own point of view. Do those three things consistently, and people won't just know your name. They’ll know what you stand for, and you’ll stand out in a sea of sameness. Plus, you’ll be interesting to someone, even if that someone is yourself.

Cory