Think Like an AI Builder, Ship Like a Founder: A Practical Playbook for Building at Speed

AI has compressed every stage of product work: research synthesis and idea drafting that used to take days now take an afternoon; prototypes that used to require an engineering team can be built solo before lunch; and the bar for what counts as a “good enough” AI feature has been rewritten entirely. We'll walk through what's actually changed at each stage (e.g., discovery, building, and evaluating), why judging an AI feature requires a different playbook than judging a traditional one, and what all of this means for how PMs and product-minded builders get hired and get ahead right now. TARGET AUDIENCE Current and aspiring product managers, and early-stage founders or builders, who want to use AI across the full arc of product development (from discovery through shipping) not just as a coding shortcut. No coding background required; the talk is built for people who make product decisions, not just people who implement them. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES By the end of this session, you’ll: ● Walk away with a repeatable process for building and shipping fast, not just a list of tools to try later. ● Learn to tell a good AI feature from a lucky one, with a real evaluation framework you can use ● Get a head start on the new AI-era hiring bar for product roles