Product Management for Engineers in the AI Age

Introduction to the core principles of Product Management in the age of AI. Open by application to graduate engineering students (and coterms). EE 205 teaches students to find the right problem to solve for customers, build a solution, and bring it to market. AI makes building easier, allowing engineers to accomplish more in the time available. The starting point remains critical: interview people, spend time with customers, and understand the problems they actually face. Students use AI to rapidly prototype, iterate, and build an end product. In the second half of the course, the focus shifts to sales and go-to-market, with the goal of solving real problems for customers. Selected readings and cases introduce strategic tools that broaden students' understanding of product management and strengthen their problem analysis skills. Topics include the customer's "job to be done," customer centricity, and the competitive forces shaping a market. Case discussions develop students' ability to apply these tools to decisions about what to build and how to bring it to customers. Thirty graduate engineering students work in five teams of six, each with a corporate partner. Corporate partners for 2027 are BMW, Omron Robotics, AGI Inc (on device AI), AI-Fabrik (neo-cloud data center) and Ambarella (semiconductor chip). Students choice rank their corporate partners. Communication, public speaking, and GTM are central. As AI makes building easier, understanding people, empathizing, and establishing trust become even more important. One of Stanford's highest rated classes.