[Review] AI worskhop for Senior PMs

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In June, an engaging workshop took place, hosted by Marily Nika, a Greek Product leader with a wealth of experience in AI, having worked for companies like Meta and Google.

Honestly, the title and its focus on senior Product Managers caught my eye, so I decided to participate. The workshop indeed attracted many senior PMs. Although it provided a great networking opportunity, I missed out on this aspect since I didn't watch the entire live workshop but only 50% of it (the rest 50% I watched it on my own pace). Consequently, I wasn't engaged in the discussions that occurred within the workshop and on the Discord server.

After revisiting the educational content last week, I wanted to write a brief review about the workshop. The workshop consisted of 6 sessions, addressing a broad spectrum of AI topics. I'll break down the learnings into key categories to cover the essential parts:

Introduction:

5 stages of AI Product management,
Evolution of LLMs,
Risk & misuses of LLMs,
ML Ops overview and stack,
AI on the edge.

Technical:

LLM technology stack,
Deploying LLMs (live),
Architecture overview,
How to deploy a robust AI system,
End-to-end observability.

Career:

Breaking into AI PM career (checklist),
AI tool stack for Product teams,
Live review of job ads,
Live review of CVs.

Overall, the workshop was fascinating, covering vital areas for aspiring AI PMs. Marily proved to be an engaging instructor who resonated well with the audience and communicated essential information effectively. Her hands-on experience in AI enriched the entire session, especially during the career segment, where she offered invaluable insights on becoming a PM, current recruiting trends, and dos and don'ts for AI PMs. There were even mock AI PM interview questions and answers!

Regarding feedback, I wished for more analysis and teardown of a few successful AI products, explaining why they succeeded and how to build a successful product, would have been enlightening. This is relevant today as numerous tools and startups focus on AI, but evaluating their market value and market fit can be challenging. Also, providing more technical sessions and examples (such as fine-tuning a model) would be really helpful for the PMs because if you understand the whole process, you will become a more competent AI PM.

Last but not least, the sessions featured valuable presentations from other respected professionals in the field. These were particularly insightful as some experts were senior AI PMs who shared valuable tips based on their experience. Additionally, there were experts who, while not PMs themselves, work closely with PMs. They provided advice on what they expect from a competent AI PM, as well as what they don't expect. These diverse perspectives added depth and practical understanding to the content of the workshop.

The course is recommended for senior PMs that want to break into AI. In case anyone is interested in joining the next cohort of the session here is the link: