Course Description
In an era shaped by rapid innovation, platform disruption, and AI acceleration, Advanced Product Management prepares students to confidently step into senior product leadership roles across global corporations, high-growth startups, and mission-driven ventures. This immersive, case-based course explores the full complexity of modern product leadership, equipping students with the skills to design, scale, and lead resilient product organizations. Emphasizing the practical application of strategy, students will learn to translate vision into execution while navigating uncertainty and operating at the intersection of engineering, design, and business.
The curriculum explores how to scale high-performing product teams in both hypergrowth and enterprise contexts, design inclusive and globally relevant solutions for emerging markets such as Africa and LATAM, and apply differentiated product strategies across peacetime and wartime market conditions. Students will evaluate build vs. buy vs. partner decisions through both financial and technical lenses, and learn to embed AI and machine learning into product experiences and workflows. The course also emphasizes ethical product design, inclusive innovation, and governance frameworks for responsible AI. Finally, students will examine how to build strong product cultures and organizational rituals that support continuous experimentation, growth, and innovation at scale.
Through a combination of real-world case studies, leadership simulations, and executive guest lectures from top Product Leaders, students will begin to develop the necessary mindset and capabilities to lead the next generation of transformative products.
Students who will benefit the most from this course:
–non-STEM students exploring careers in tech
–STEM students seeking preparation for product-centric tech roles
–Students who have already taken a SCET Berkeley Challenge Lab (ENGIN 183C) or ENGIN 183D
–Have a general understanding of modern product management and product development approaches (e.g. waterfall, agile/scrum)
Course by application ONLY. Application will be live on April 30th with enrollment decisions sent during Phase 2.
Application will be live April 30th and decisions will be made at the start of Phase 2.
Jan-Simon Veicht is a designer, strategist and educator dedicated to precision and simplicity, crafting solutions that bridge complexity and clarity. With 15 years in design, he has navigated the worlds of luxury consumer goods, furniture, UI/UX, branding, hardware design, and corporate sustainable innovations, transforming abstract ideas and concepts into tangible success stories. His advocacy for beauty and sustainability threads through each design choice, with a particular focus on Color, Material, and Finish (CMF). Deeply intrigued by the transformative power of emerging technologies, entrepreneurship and human-centered-design, Jan stands for a world which is not just about aesthetics but about crafting a future where interactions are more meaningful, sustainable, and functional. Beyond his professional projects in corporate innovation and as design consultant, he is committed to cultivating the next generation of entrepreneurs, designers and changemakers. As a lecturer and mentor, Jan has shared his passion for sustainability and innovation insights with students at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds a Master’s in Design for Emerging Technology and serves as a Design Fellow at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.
Currently, he works as Head of Design & Innovation at Schoolab in San Francisco, a global innovation consulting company, leading corporate strategic foresight projects, integrating Gen AI into design operations, and building out design practices across the US, Europe, and Asia.