The Product Lounge - Brought to you by Merge - In partnership with Product School
Calling all Product Management leaders in San Francisco
The Product Lounge is a 2-day event for product management leaders where you'll network with peers, learn from other product leaders, attend panel discussions with live Q&A, enjoy breakfast and lunch, win cool prizes, and, yes, talk shop about AI.
Speakers
Clemens Mewald
Frank te Pas
Stephen Hsu
Abraham Chen
Brian Elmi
Karishma Irani
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
Connor Hayes
Sachi Shah
Christian Marek
Shensi Ding
Cristina Cordova
Agenda
Day 1
Day 2
Lounge Hours
Stephen Hsu
Chief Product Officer, Calendly
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
CEO, Product School
10AM-11AM - Session abstract:
What it takes to become a world-class product leader
Today’s product leaders face a mountain of challenges.
They need to uncover and prioritize the best ways to leverage generative AI in their products; decide on the right balance between investing in new products and maintaining existing ones; define and continually refine cross-functional processes (e.g., sprints); determine how they want to scale their team and make the business case for it—and much more.
During our fireside chat with Stephen Hsu, the CPO at Calendly, we’ll talk through how you can navigate all of these challenges successfully. Stephen will also share some of his top learnings over the years that have led him to where he is today: a leader at Calendly and a leading voice in the product management space.
Stephen Hsu
Chief Product Officer, Calendly
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
CEO, Product School
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
CEO, Product School
Shensi Ding
CEO and co-founder, Merge
Cristina Cordova
COO, Linear
11:30AM-12:30PM - Session abstract:
How to elevate your product team’s level of productivity
Despite working with limited budgets, product teams face aggressive targets on the features they need to add, the products they need to launch, the fixes they need to deploy, and more.
To help you elevate your team’s productivity, Cristina Cordova, the COO of Linear, will share some of the most successful processes she’s implemented across Linear to lift performance.
Shensi Ding
CEO and co-founder, Merge
Cristina Cordova
COO, Linear
Karishma Irani
Head of Product, LaunchDarkly
Sachi Shah
Head of Product, Semgrep
Clemens Mewald
Head of Product, Instabase
1PM-2PM - Session abstract:
Tips and tricks for building AI features successfully
Seemingly every company across industries, regions, and sizes is looking to incorporate AI into their products.
But AI isn’t always the solution your product needs.
Our panel will talk through the decision criteria for building new AI features, how to prioritize different opportunities, and how to go about implementing any of these features successfully.
After attending, you’ll not only be able to determine if certain features in your product should use AI but also pinpoint the best way to go about building these AI capabilities.
Karishma Irani
Head of Product, LaunchDarkly
Sachi Shah
Head of Product, Semgrep
Clemens Mewald
Head of Product, Instabase
Lounge Hours
Frank te Pas
Head of Enterprise Product, Perplexity
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
CEO, Product School
10AM-11AM - Session abstract:
How AI will impact product management in 2025 and beyond
As AI continues to mature at a blistering pace, its impact on product managers will only increase.
To help you prepare, Frank te Pas, the Head of Product at Perplexity, will break down his predictions on AI for the coming year and what PMs can do to adapt to each of these changes successfully.
He’ll also share how he sees AI impacting the PM discipline more broadly, whether that’s the type of PM roles that’ll open up or the kinds of day-to-day projects that PMs will eventually take on.
Frank te Pas
Head of Enterprise Product, Perplexity
Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia
CEO, Product School
Christian Marek
VP of Product, Productboard
Brian Elmi
SVP of Product, Drata
11:30AM-12:30PM - Session abstract:
How to evaluate and prioritize product opportunities
You’re likely getting feature and product requests from every corner, whether it’s coming from your customers, prospects, or customer-facing teams.
How do you know which requests are worth prioritizing and investing your limited resources in?
Christian Marek, the VP of Product Management at Productboard and Merge, and Brian Elmi, the SVP of Product at Drata, will chat through how you can field requests, assess each objectively, prioritize them accordingly, and communicate your plans to all your stakeholders.
Christian Marek
VP of Product, Productboard
Brian Elmi
SVP of Product, Drata
Connor Hayes
VP of Product (Generative AI), Meta
Brian Elmi
SVP of Product, Drata
Abraham Chen
Product Manager, Merge
1PM-2PM - Session abstract:
Mastering product management: How to be in the top 1%
Driven product managers take all kinds of courses, attend networking events, volunteer to take on additional projects, and more with the goal of developing their skills and growing in their careers.
But which activities are actually helpful and which are a waste of time and money?
Our panel will break down some of the most impactful investments they’ve made and/or projects they’ve taken on to grow their careers in product management. They’ll also provide some tips and best practices to help you evaluate which opportunities are worth pursuing and which aren’t.
Connor Hayes
VP of Product (Generative AI), Meta
Brian Elmi
SVP of Product, Drata
Abraham Chen
Product Manager, Merge
